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Pharmaceutics
Special Issues
Medical Applications of Extracellular Vesicles
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Medical Applications of Extracellular Vesicles

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Delivery and Controlled Release".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 2223

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Claudia Radojkovic

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4030000, Chile
Interests: lipid metabolism disorders; endothelial progenitor cells; vascular repair
Dr. Claudio Aguayo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4030000, Chile
Interests: biomarkers; regeneration; exosome

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous group of membrane-bound structures, including exosomes, microvesicles, and apoptotic bodies, that play a crucial role in intercellular communication. Although EVs were initially thought to be primarily cellular waste disposal systems, they are now recognized as crucial mediators of numerous physiological and pathophysiological processes due to their cargo that includes proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. The role of EVs in the pathogenesis of various diseases, as well as their potential application in diagnosis and treatment, has generated growing interest in their clinical applications.

This Special Issue aims to explore the medical applications of EVs, focusing on their potential use as biomarkers, therapeutic agents, and drug delivery systems. We invite submissions of original research and reviews addressing EV isolation and characterization techniques, their role in immune modulation, and innovative strategies for their engineering and targeted delivery. Special attention will be paid to translational challenges, including regulatory aspects and scalability for clinical use.

Along with contributions from experts in the field, we hope this Special Issue will provide a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the medical applications of extracellular vesicles. We also seek to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and promote the clinical application of EV-based technologies, contributing to the advancement of precision medicine. We invite researchers and clinicians to submit their work and be part of this rapidly evolving field.

Prof. Dr. Claudia Radojkovic
Dr. Claudio Aguayo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceutics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • extracelular vesicles
  • intercellular communication
  • EV characterization in health and disease
  • EV-based drug delivery systems
  • biomarkers

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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34 pages, 9413 KB  
Article
From Stress to Survival: Trophoblast-Derived Extracellular Vesicle Proteome Captures Aspirin-Driven Cellular Reprogramming in a Preeclampsia Model
by Vineet Mahajan, Awanit Kumar, Jeena Jacob, Maged M. Costantine, Lauren S. Richardson, Rheanna Urrabaz-Garza, Emmanuel Amabebe, Ourlad Alzeus G. Tantengco, Ananth Kumar Kammala and Ramkumar Menon
Pharmaceutics 2026, 18(6), 677; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics18060677 - 29 May 2026
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Abstract
Background: Low-dose aspirin (LDA) reduces preeclampsia (PE) risk by up to 40%, yet its molecular effects on chorion trophoblast cells (CTCs), a fetal membrane lineage at the feto-maternal interface, remain obscure. CTCs form a structural and immunoregulatory barrier whose dysfunction drives inflammation-associated membrane [...] Read more.
Background: Low-dose aspirin (LDA) reduces preeclampsia (PE) risk by up to 40%, yet its molecular effects on chorion trophoblast cells (CTCs), a fetal membrane lineage at the feto-maternal interface, remain obscure. CTCs form a structural and immunoregulatory barrier whose dysfunction drives inflammation-associated membrane pathology in PE. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by CTCs may encode cellular stress and adaptation states, offering a molecular window into aspirin’s timing-dependent effects on PE risk modification. Methods: Human CTCs were challenged with cigarette smoke extract (CSE) to model oxidative stress-driven PE pathology. Two paradigms were tested: (1) prophylactic aspirin (4 and 40 µg/mL) before and/or flanking the CSE, and (2) therapeutic aspirin after the CSE challenge. The EVs were isolated via ultracentrifugation and size-exclusion chromatography, characterized by nanoparticle tracking and immunoblotting, and profiled by quantitative mass spectrometry. A network pathway analysis and machine learning biomarker selection defined the EV-encoded molecular states. Results: The CTC-derived EVs from the CSE-exposed cells carried a PE-like proteomic signature marked by suppressed VEGF/ECM remodeling, activated TNF-p53 apoptotic signaling, and heightened inflammation. Prophylactic low-dose aspirin shifted the EV cargo toward an EV-encoded signature consistent with preserved angiogenic potential (enrichment of VEGFA, COL1A1, and MMP14) and predicted attenuation of apoptotic and NF-κB pathway activity by an Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. High-dose aspirin produced broad transcriptional suppression without an accompanying pro-angiogenic EV signature. Therapeutic (post-injury) aspirin partially attenuated the injury-associated EV cargo but did not restore the angiogenic EV signature. An exploratory machine learning analysis of EV proteomes identified a candidate prophylactic biomarker panel anchored by HSPA8, SERPINF2, COL4A1, and PLOD1, mapped to the predicted angiogenic recovery and redox-balance pathways. These EV cargo readouts represent the predicted molecular states and require functional validation before clinical interpretation. Conclusions: The CTC-derived EV proteomic signatures capture the dose- and timing-dependent aspirin effects in this in vitro CTC model, positioning the chorion as a candidate pharmacological “secondary responder” favoring cellular resilience over classical anti-inflammatory suppression. As an exploratory hypothesis-generating study, EV-based molecular profiling could provide a foundation for future investigations aimed at stratifying aspirin responders from non-responders, although clinical validation in maternal plasma cohorts will be required before any translational application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medical Applications of Extracellular Vesicles)
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Review

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24 pages, 2979 KB  
Review
Transforming Cancer Care with Oncosomes: Insight into Biogenesis, Functional Role, and Therapeutic Potential
by Popat Mohite, Rajesh Bogati, Aishwarya Gorad, Abhijeet Puri, Sudarshan Singh and Chuda Chittasupho
Pharmaceutics 2026, 18(2), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics18020207 - 5 Feb 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1410
Abstract
Oncosomes, a distinct subclass of extracellular vesicles released predominantly by tumor cells, have attracted increasing interest as potential carriers for targeted drug delivery in cancer research. Characterized by their large size (1–10 µm) and complex molecular cargo, including oncogenic proteins, nucleic acids, and [...] Read more.
Oncosomes, a distinct subclass of extracellular vesicles released predominantly by tumor cells, have attracted increasing interest as potential carriers for targeted drug delivery in cancer research. Characterized by their large size (1–10 µm) and complex molecular cargo, including oncogenic proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids, oncosomes provide a biologically relevant platform for investigating tumor-associated communication and cargo transport. Preclinical studies suggest that oncosomes may enable tumor-associated delivery of therapeutic agents; however, evidence to date remains largely proof-of-concept and derived from in vitro and animal models. This review summarizes current knowledge on oncosome biogenesis and molecular composition; discusses their roles in cancer progression and metastasis; and critically evaluates existing methodologies for oncosome isolation, characterization, and cargo loading, including incubation, electroporation, sonication, freeze–thaw cycling, and transfection. Potential advantages such as cargo capacity and biological compatibility are discussed alongside key challenges, including vesicle heterogeneity, limited loading efficiency, large-scale manufacturing constraints, safety considerations, and regulatory uncertainty. Future perspectives focus on addressing these technical and translational barriers to support the systematic evaluation of engineered oncosomes as an experimental platform for personalized and precision-oriented cancer research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medical Applications of Extracellular Vesicles)
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