Extracellular Vesicle Library for Drug Screening

Executive Summary

The body’s natural transporter, Extracellular vesicles (EVs), have gained recent attention for their potential as targeted drug delivery vehicles with low immunogenic response. Properly designing the surface allows EVs to deliver therapeutic payloads (protein, RNA, nanoparticle, small molecule, etc.) to a target organ. However, the critical challenges are a lack of targeting molecules that can guide EVs to the specific tissue and a time-consuming and costly process of designing such EVs for the intended purpose. MSU researchers have recently developed a new method of creating a library of distinct EVs that can be used for screening studies and accelerate drug development.

Description of the Technology

This invention involves surface modification of EV’s with a library of monobodies. A large number (>10⁸) of distinct EV’s are generated in the process, each having unique surface functionality and binding capability. The technology has been tested in HEK293 cells and also in-vivo with mice to demonstrate unique EV’s concentrate in target organs/cells of interest.

Benefits