Up your nose, with exosomes.

Extracellular vesicles for therapeutic delivery of products into brain PREMIUM CONTENT

My first experience with exosomes (EVs) was way back when I spent the summer before I went to med school working at U of Illinois CU with Victor Domingo Ramirez. I made preparations of synaptosomes from rat brain to measure calcium-dependent depolarized and amphetamine-stimulated dopamine release, from perfused columns. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Victor-Ramirez-15/research] These were extracellular vesicles created from pinched off synaptic bulbs, capturing their contents [e.g. neurotransmitter vesicles] and maintaining their functionality. Who knew that all these years later we would make EVs to send back right into the CNS. Via the nose.

Biogenesis, secretion, and cellular entry of exosomes. (A) Exosomes develop within MVBs and are released by fusion with the plasma membrane. (B) Exosomes enter cells through three main pathways: (a) membrane fusion with the target cell, (b) internalization driven by receptor-ligand interactions, and (c) endocytosis. LE, late endosome; MVB, multivesicular body. - Yujie Liang et al