N.C. A&T Researchers: Extracellular Vesicles May Change How We Treat Cancer, Neurological Disease

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 14, 2025) — Small, membrane-bound structures that cells in the human body release to transport a variety of proteins, nucleic acids and metabolites may also be used to carry specialized treatments for a wide array of diseases across a critical layer of cells meant to protect the brain against pathogens: the blood-brain barrier.

Writing in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Biology, a team of nanoengineers from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University explored four categories of chronic illnesses and how the small structures, known as extracellular vesicles (EVs), can be utilized for both diagnosis and treatment: cancer, cardiovascular disease, orthopedic disease and neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Principal investigator Kristen Dellinger, Ph.D., an assistant professor of nanoengineering and founder of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering’s NanoBio Innovation Lab describes EVs as “tiny lipid packages” that can be used for intercellular communication and transportation. Because of their cellular characteristics, EVs are capable of carrying various therapies across biological barriers.

Dellinger and her team focused on EV’s potential to cross the blood-brain barrier and synthesized findings from nearly 250 reference sources for their comprehensive review. Doctoral students Farbod Ebrahimi, Anjali Kumari, Samaneh Ghadami and Saqer Al Abdullah contributed to “The Potential for Extracellular Vesicles in Nanomedicine: A Review of Recent Advancements and Challenges Ahead.” 

A Subcategory of EVs: Exosomes

Exosomes are a subcategory of EVs that measure between 30 and 150 nanometers. A nanometer is 10^-9 meters, making exosomes incredibly small — about 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Exosomes play a significant role in physiological and pathological processes.

Exosomes’ numerous benefits include their superior tissue penetration, efficient and consistent cellular internalization and more predictable biodistribution of whatever they are carrying. They are generally considered better alternatives to synthetic nanoparticles because they are naturally released from cells and so potentially less toxic to the body.

Exosomes have been considered a novel potential alternative to radiation therapy, chemotherapy and other cancer interventions because “the tissue selectivity, safety, crossing biological barriers and stability of exosomes make them advantageous as drug delivery systems” among other potential benefits, the research team wrote.

With regard to cardiovascular disease or CVD, toxicity and other challenges diminish synthetic nanocarriers’ efficacy as nanocarriers for drug carriers. Exosomes can “function as carriers of CVD-related active agents to target cells for their cardiac regenerative and protective potential,” the researchers explain in the article.  

The team referenced previous research of a triple hybrid cellular nanovesicle design that showed promise in addressing cardiac injury, though there are still challenges to mitigate, which the NanoBio Innovation Lab is working on at A&T.

The team encouraged further research on those challenges, including a lack of standardized procedures in using exosomes and lack of established quality control, as well as studies that measure therapeutic effects and long-term safety of exosome-mediated treatment.

Dellinger’s team has secured substantial funding, including a two-year $369,024 NCInnovation grant for drug delivery research in 2024.