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This blog originated as a press release from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg. Thanks to them for allowing us to repost it here. |
Scientists create synthetic exosomes with natural functionalities and present their therapeutic application.
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg and colleagues at the DWI Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials in Aachen have engineered synthetic exosomes that regulate cellular signaling during wound closure. The synthetic structures are built to resemble naturally occurring extracellular vesicles (EV) that play a fundamental role in communication between cells during various processes in our bodies. The scientists uncovered key mechanisms in the regulation of wound healing and the formation of new blood vessels. They designed and built programmable fully-synthetic EVs from scratch rather than isolating natural EVs from cells. Inspired by the roles of the natural counterparts, the scientists demonstrate for the first time that fully synthetic exosomes with therapeutic functions can be constructed.