Exosomes in Medicine: Recent Advances in Drug Delivery, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics

A special issue of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). This special issue belongs to the section "Gene and Cell Therapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 177

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medical and Life Sciences, Sir Jeffrey Cheah Sunway Medical School, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia
Interests: exosome-based drug delivery systems; precision medicine; molecular diagnostics; inflammation; bioavailability; lipid metabolism; immunomodulation; neuroprotection; translational pharmacology; personalized medicine

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Exosomes—nano-sized extracellular vesicles released by cells—have emerged as significant facilitators of intercellular communication, with potential implications in contemporary medicine. This Special Issue aims to highlight recent advances in the understanding of exosomes and their utilization in drug delivery, disease diagnostics, and therapeutic interventions. Exosomes, due to their inherent biocompatibility, capacity to transport bioactive compounds, and potential for tailored delivery, constitute a revolutionary platform in precision medicine. This Issue solicits original research articles, reviews, and brief communications centered on the extraction, characterization, and engineering of exosomes for clinical and translational purposes. Key study areas of interest encompass exosome-mediated drug- and gene-delivery systems, the function of exosomes as diagnostic biomarkers in oncology and metabolic disorders, and their therapeutic potential in inflammation, neurodegeneration, and immunological regulation. Research that combines exosomes with phytochemicals, nanomaterials, or biomaterials to improve efficacy and specificity is also recommended. This Issue seeks to enhance exosome research by integrating diverse viewpoints and fostering the advancement of innovative solutions for disease management and personalized healthcare.

Prof. Dr. Vetriselvan Subramaniyan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • exosomes
  • drug delivery
  • diagnostics
  • therapeutics
  • precision medicine
  • biomarkers
  • nanomedicine
  • inflammation and neurodegeneration
  • exosome engineering
  • translational research

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 2172 KB  
Article
Comparative Proteomics of Seminal Exosomes Reveals Size-Exclusion Chromatography Outperforms Ultracentrifugation
by Ajaya K. Moharana, Manesh Kumar Panner Selvam, Soumya Ranjan Jena, Partha K. Chandra, David W. Busija, Luna Samanta and Suresh C. Sikka
Biomedicines 2025, 13(10), 2459; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13102459 - 9 Oct 2025
Abstract
Background: Extracellular vesicles, particularly exosomes, play a crucial role in cell–cell communication and as carriers of biomarkers. However, their use in clinical settings is limited due to a lack of standardized isolation and characterization. Ultracentrifugation (UC) is considered a gold standard for [...] Read more.
Background: Extracellular vesicles, particularly exosomes, play a crucial role in cell–cell communication and as carriers of biomarkers. However, their use in clinical settings is limited due to a lack of standardized isolation and characterization. Ultracentrifugation (UC) is considered a gold standard for exosome isolation but presents several limitations. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) has recently gained attention as a superior method, which offers better yield, purity, and protection of exosome physical properties. This study focused on optimizing the SEC method for isolation of exosomes from seminal plasma and comparing yield, quality, and proteome profiles with those obtained by UC. Methods: In this SEC method, seminal plasma (0.5 mL) was loaded onto a SEC column and collected in 13 fractions of 0.4 mL each. The physical and molecular characterization of exosomes was carried out using a ZetaView analyzer and Western blot, respectively. Further, SEC-isolated exosomes were used for proteomic profiling and functional bioinformatic analysis. Results: The second and third fractions had the highest concentration of exosomes with uniform size and strong expression of exosome markers. Also, comparative proteomic analysis identified 3315 proteins in SEC-isolated exosomes and 931 in UC-isolated exosomes, with 709 proteins in common. SEC-isolated exosomes showed greater overlap with Vesiclepedia’s and ExoCarta’s top 100 lists than UC-isolated exosomes (Vesiclepedia: 91 vs. 77 proteins, ExoCarta: 94 vs. 79). Proteins from SEC- and UC-isolated exosomes showed similar enrichment profiles across all three gene ontology categories. Conclusions: Overall, this optimized SEC protocol is a reliable alternative method to isolate seminal exosomes with high purity, supporting its potential applications in clinical and basic research. Full article
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