Advancing extracellular vesicle therapeutics by chemical biology
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Published on: August 16, 2024
Chenchen Zhao1, Yun Ge2, Lang Rao2
1Henan Collaborative Innovation Center of Molecular Diagnosis and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medical Technology, Henan Medical University, Xinxiang 453003, China; Henan International Joint Laboratory of Immunology and Model Animals, School of Medical Technology, Henan Medical University, Xinxiang 453003, China; Institute of Chemical Biology, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 518132, China.
Abstract:
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) possess favorable biocompatibility and diverse biological functions, making them promising platforms for therapeutic delivery. However, realizing their full delivery potential requires precise engineering of EVs with tailored functionalities. By bridging chemical tools and biological systems, chemical biology provides a versatile toolkit for the modular engineering of EVs. Here, we provide a systematic overview of recent progress in chemical biology-enabled EV engineering, with an emphasis on three main strategies including protein engineering, nucleic acid engineering, and glycoengineering. In this review, we discuss the design principles of representative approaches and assess their practical utility and performance. Particular attention is given to the integration of orthogonal engineering strategies to coordinate multiple delivery functions within a single EV platform. We further discuss emerging opportunities in multi-specific vesicular antibody design and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted engineering. By linking molecular engineering strategies with specific delivery requirements, this review provides a comprehensive chemical biology-based framework for the rational design of engineered EVs with tailored delivery functions.
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