Novel administration strategies for tissue-specific delivery of extracellular vesicles

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanoparticles released by cells with bilayer lipid membranes that have been demonstrated to regulate biological activities. The potential of EVs as a novel therapeutic or drug delivery platform has already been identified in emerging research. The therapeutic efficacy of EVs is contingent upon the quantity of EVs internalized by target cells, which necessitates the enhanced retention of EVs in target organs. Accordingly, various novel administration strategies for the targeted delivery of therapeutic EVs into specific tissues were developed. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in EV delivery routes for brain-, heart-, lung-, skin-, eye-, and gastrointestinal tract-specific applications. We believe that the emergence of innovative EV administration strategies will contribute to the future clinical trials and eventual applicability of EV-based therapeutics.