The article considers the advantages of exosomes as vectors of medications over artificially constructed vesicles.
The main problem of modern therapy is the low pointness of drugs and obsolescent over time medicines. In connection with this it is necessary to create new delivery agents providing direct delivery of the medical product in the pathological process area in the required therapeutic concentration, to reduce the adverse effects on the body of toxic compounds, which can extend the life of existing drugs, and more fully realize their potential.
Currently, work is underway on the construction and improvement of artificial vectors, which main problem is the lack of focus, not investigated biocompatibility, the labor intensiveness, high cost of production and consequently expensiveness drugs. By focusing on this complex process, we forget about the existence of biological containers – exosomes.
Exosomes – natural microvesicles consisting of a lipid shell by diameter of 30-100 nm secreted into the extracellular space by the various cells of the body, which fundamental function is intercellular communication [1, 4].
Compounds, included in the exosomes (micro-RNA, proteins, lipids annexins, and other) is determine their properties. Exosomes are able to protect the medical product from degradation, implement its directed transporting, protect the organism from the effects of highly toxic medical product, penetrate through all kinds of barriers, opening the possibility for the treatment of previously inaccessible pathological centers, they are not captured by cells of the reticuloendothelial system, and remain invisible to the immune system cells [2, 3].
To achieve the pointness there is necessary to attach specific ligand to the surface of exosomes for which there is a specific receptor or other object to be linked. Under the influence of annexin there occurs endocytosis of exosomes with a cell, and under the action of intracellular enzymes drug is release, which modifies the functions of the target molecules.
A potential problem of using exosomes as vectors may be the presence of the major histocompatibility complex on their surface, but the solution to this problem, as well as the source of the mass production of exosomes may serve as mesenchymal cells with suppressed synthesis of major histocompatibility complex [5].
Getting exosomes does not require complicated methodics and the availability of expensive equipment. Why use a time-consuming and expensive production of drugs, where there is the possibility of an alternative use of natural biological delivery system that does not require global costs?