Oral Presentation Australia and New Zealand Society for Extracellular Vesicles Conference 2023

Unlocking the Potential: EVs as the Next Frontier in Therapeutic Modalities (#16)

In-San Kim 1
  1. Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seongbuk-gu, SEOUL, South Korea

Chronic and detrimental diseases are multifaceted, varied, and influenced by numerous genes. Although their diagnoses are often based on overlapping symptoms, the underlying causes can arise from multiple distinct pathways. Addressing these multiple pathways either simultaneously or in succession poses a challenge. As chronic diseases evolve, often unpredictably, strategies to manage their progression must be adaptive. While most of the readily addressable therapeutic targets have already been tapped, what remain are the more elusive, "undruggable" targets. These harder-to-reach targets are often intracellular and cannot be engaged with just small molecules; they demand larger "keys" for regulation. However, larger molecules, like proteins, often face permeability issues, rendering them ineffective. To circumvent these challenges, I propose the use of designer exosomes as a novel therapeutic modality operating like the organelle therapy. Exosomes offer several advantages over traditional therapeutic methods, handling tasks that conventional treatments might find challenging. In the subsequent sections, I will present data supporting the potential of this innovative approach.

  1. Emerging prospects of exosomes for cancer treatment: from conventional therapy to immunotherapy. GH Nam, Y Choi, GB Kim, S Kim, SA Kim, IS Kim, Advanced Materials 32 (51), 2002440, 2020
  2. Extracellular vesicles as a platform for membrane-associated therapeutic protein delivery Y Yang, Y Hong, E Cho, GB Kim, IS Kim, Journal of Extracellular Vesicles 7 (1), 1440131, 2018