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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Nanobiotechnology
Volume 12 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1437787
This article is part of the Research Topic Bio-Nanomaterials and Systems for Enhanced Bioimaging in Biomedical Applications View all 4 articles
Exosome-Drug Conjugates Delivery: a Promising Strategy for Ameliorating the Pharmacokinetic Profile of Artesunate
Provisionally accepted
Da Wang
1*
Yunfei Bai
1
Guogang Cheng
1*
Shengqiang Shen
1*
Gengwu Xiao
1*
Demei Ma
1*
Ganggang Zhao
1*
Wei Chen
1*
Tianshi Li
2*
Litao Zhang
3*
Xiaohu Ge
1*- 1 TINGO Exosomes Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin, China
- 2 Department of Plastic Surgery, Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, China
- 3 Department of Dermatology, Tianjin Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated Hospital, Tianjin, China
Artesunate (ATS) is considered the most widely employed artemisnin derivative in the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. However, poor solubility and low bioavailability of ATS limit its further clinical application. Herein, we developed a new strategy based on the exosome-drug conjugation (EDC) using the milk-derived exosomes for ATS delivery. The exosome-ATS conjugates (EACs) which formed via a facile bio-conjugation of ATS to the exosomal surface, have been demonstrated to be able to not only boost the solubility and bioavailability of ATS but also enable a sustained-release of ATS from exosomes. Maximal improvement of 71.4-fold in the solubility of ATS was attained by EACs. The corresponding entrapment efficiency and drug loading capacity were found to be 90.3% and 73.9% for EACs, respectively. Further, in vivo pharmacokinetics study manifested that maximum 2.6-fold improved bioavailability of ATS was achieved by oral delivery of EACs. Moreover, EACs displayed a distinct sustained-release profile of maximum 36.2-fold prolonged half-life of ATS via intravenous delivery. We reported that for the first time the administration of EACs could be a potential drug delivery strategy aimed at ameliorating the pharmacokinetic profile of ATS based on our encouraging results and hoped that our work opened up a new avenue for the development of EDC delivery system.
Keywords: Exosomes, Artesunate, Bio-conjugation, delivery, pharmacokinetic
Received: 24 May 2024; Accepted: 02 Jul 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Bai, Cheng, Shen, Xiao, Ma, Zhao, Chen, Li, Zhang and Ge. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Da Wang, TINGO Exosomes Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin, China
Guogang Cheng, TINGO Exosomes Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin, China
Shengqiang Shen, TINGO Exosomes Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin, China
Gengwu Xiao, TINGO Exosomes Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin, China
Demei Ma, TINGO Exosomes Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin, China
Ganggang Zhao, TINGO Exosomes Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin, China
Wei Chen, TINGO Exosomes Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin, China
Tianshi Li, Department of Plastic Surgery, Shenzhen Hospital, Peking University, Shenzhen, 518036, China
Litao Zhang, Department of Dermatology, Tianjin Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated Hospital, Tianjin, 300120, China
Xiaohu Ge, TINGO Exosomes Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin, China
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