Plant-based extracellular vesicles offer options to mammalian cells for large-scale processing and drug delivery

From Genetic Engineering News By Gail Dutton 

Plant-based extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging as alternatives to mammalian cells for nanomedicine drug delivery applications. Large-scale processing and characterization for any EV, however, has been challenging.

Researchers Cristiana Boi, PhD, associate professor, University of Bologna, and her PhD student Sara Giancaterino, first author, discussed the options and challenges in a recent paper.

“Plant-based EVs have several advantages,” Boi tells GEN. “They do not require the use of cell cultures and can be isolated directly from plant or fruit extracts, which avoids the costs of upstream processing. They also are widely available and inexpensive sources particularly when compared to EVs isolated from biofluids and human cells.”