Scalable Exosome Isolation Platform for Clinical-Scale Therapeutics: Bridging Gaps in Drug Delivery and Regenerative...

Exosomes are essential for facilitating intercellular communication. The importance of these molecules lies in the fact that they can transport bioactive molecules across cells, influencing critical physiological processes such as immune responses, tissue repair, and cell proliferation. In addition to their physiological roles, exosomes are also involved in various pathological conditions, including carcinoma, respiratory, neurodegeneration and cardiovascular diseases. They can convey signals that may promote tumor growth, metastasis, or immune evasion in cancer. This study suggests a unique scalable platform for effective exosome isolation based on functionalised SiO₂ wafers. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with diameters of 20 nm and 60 nm were synthesized and deposited on SiO₂ wafers before being PEGylated and conjugated with antibodies. The platform successfully isolated exosomes employing antibodies against CD9, CD81, and CD63, with CD63-coated wafers providing the most exosomes, in accordance with their abundance on the exosomal surface. NTA revealed the presence of exosomes. A 1 cm x 1 cm SiO₂ wafers successfully isolated 3.3 x 10⁸ exosomes from 100 µL serum. A 2 cm x 2 cm wafer demonstrated a significant increase in isolation efficiency, capturing 7.2 x 10⁸ exosomes from 200 µL serum, highlighting the scalability and potential for high-throughput exosome isolation using this platform. The average size of isolated exosomes ranged from 40 to 150 nm. This scalable technology offers a promising alternative to ultracentrifugation for exosome isolation. It has potential uses in the delivery of drugs and other biomedical fields.Clinical Relevance- This work enables scalable exosome isolation, critical for advancing therapies in drug delivery, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and regenerative medicine.