Extracellular Vesicles: From Waste EVictees to Therapeutic Reality

Once thought to be merely evictees of cell debris, extracellular vesicles (EVs) hold the promise of the next generation therapeutic agent. EVs are known cell-to-cell messengers that mediate physiological functions throughout the body. Their ability to stealthily transfer paracrine factors, nucleic acids, proteins, and other essential biomolecules between distant tissues have the potential to usher in a new era of nanomedicine. This webinar will focus on why stem cell derived EVs are a compelling acellular therapeutic. We will discuss the unique characteristics of EVs compared to other synthetic therapeutic agents and outline the critical attributes necessary to be a successful regenerative medicine alternative to whole stem cell therapies. We will explore how naïve EVs are produced, isolated, and characterized with an emphasis on emerging approaches in characterization and quantification methods. Lastly, we will review the application of EVs as natural therapeutic agents in the clinic, which include regenerative medicine, clinical oncology, and COVID-19 therapies.