Golden Exosomes Selectively Target Brain Pathologies in Neurodegenerative and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Abstract
Exosomes, nanovesicles that are secreted by different cell types, enable intercellular communication at local or distant sites. Alhough they have been found to cross the blood brain barrier, their migration and homing abilities within the brain remain unstudied. We have recently developed a method for longitudinal and quantitative in vivo neuroimaging of exosomes based on the superior visualization abilities of classical X-ray computed tomography (CT), combined with gold nanoparticles as labeling agents. Here, we used this technique to track the migration and homing patterns of intranasally administrated exosomes derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-exo) in different brain pathologies, including stroke, autism, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. We found that MSC-exo specifically targeted and accumulated in pathologically relevant murine models brains regions up to 96 h post administration, while in healthy controls they showed a diffuse migration pattern and clearance by 24 h. The neuro-inflammatory signal in pathological brains was highly correlated with MSC-exo accumulation, suggesting that the homing mechanism is inflammatory-driven. In addition, MSC-exo were selectively uptaken by neuronal cells, but not glial cells, in the pathological regions. Taken together, these findings can significantly promote the application of exosomes for therapy and targeted drug delivery in various brain pathologies.
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Perets et al. developed a technique for longitudinal and quantitative in vivo neuroimaging of exosomes using X-ray CT coupled with gold nanoparticles as contrast agents.
“Perets et al. have developed a technique for the longitudinal and quantitative in vivo neuroimaging of exosomes, utilizing classic X-ray CT coupled with gold nanoparticles (GNP) as contrast agents, as seen in Fig. 4b [244].”
From Extracellular vesicles as nanotheranostic platforms for targeted neurological disorder interventions (2024) · cites this paper as [244]
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- Authors
- Perets, N., Betzer, O., Shapira, R., Brenstein, S., Angel, A., Sadan, T., Ashery, U., Popovtzer, R., & Offen, D.
- Affiliations
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- Bar-Ilan University (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Offen, Daniel
- Venue
- Nano Letters
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2019-02-14
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 3422-3431
- ISSN
- 1530-6984 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-6992
- OpenAlex
- W2913892920
- Cited by
- 382
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 69 · 2023: 70 · 2022: 64 · 2021: 54 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 11
- FWCI
- 14.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Nano Letters (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Israel Science Foundation (2533/17, 749/14)
- Council for Higher Education
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (2533/17, 51761145041)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Extracellular vesicles in disease
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Barrier Structure and Function Studies
- Keywords
- exosomes, gold nanoparticles, brain targeting, mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes, stroke, autism spectrum disorder, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, neuroinflammation, neuronal uptake, targeted drug delivery, in vivo brain imaging, blood-brain barrier
- MeSH terms
- Alzheimer Disease, Animals, Brain, Disease Models, Animal, Gold, Tomography, X-Ray Computed, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Metal Nanoparticles, Exosomes, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Neuroimaging, Neurodevelopmental Disorders
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