Extracellular Vesicle-Based Therapy for COVID-19: Promises, Challenges and Future Prospects
Vamika Karn,
Shaista Ahmed,
Lung-Wen Tsai,
Rajni Dubey,
Shreesh Ojha,
Himanshu Naryan Singh,
Mukesh Kumar,
Piyush Kumar Gupta,
Soumi Sadhu,
Niraj Kumar Jha,
Ashutosh Kumar,
Soumya Pandit,
Sanjay Kumar
Affiliations
Vamika Karn
Department of Biotechnology, Amity University, Mumbai 410221, India
Shaista Ahmed
Faculty of Medical and Paramedical Sciences, Aix-Marseille University, 13005 Marseille, France
Lung-Wen Tsai
Department of Medicine Research, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
Rajni Dubey
Department of Medicine Research, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
Shreesh Ojha
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 17666, United Arab Emirates
Himanshu Naryan Singh
Department of System Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA
Mukesh Kumar
Department of Biophysics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India
Piyush Kumar Gupta
Department of Life Sciences, School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida 201310, India
Soumi Sadhu
Department of Life Sciences, School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida 201310, India
Niraj Kumar Jha
Department of Biotechnology, School of Engineering & Technology (SET), Sharda University, Greater Noida 201310, India
Ashutosh Kumar
Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna 801507, India
Soumya Pandit
Department of Life Sciences, School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida 201310, India
Sanjay Kumar
Department of Life Sciences, School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida 201310, India
The COVID-19 pandemic has become a serious concern and has negatively impacted public health and the economy. It primarily targets the lungs, causing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); however, it may also lead to multiple organ failure (MOF) and enhanced mortality rates. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop potential effective therapeutic strategies for COVID-19 patients. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released from various types of cells that participate in intercellular communication to maintain physiological and pathological processes. EVs derived from various cellular origins have revealed suppressive effects on the cytokine storm during systemic hyper-inflammatory states of severe COVID-19, leading to enhanced alveolar fluid clearance, promoted epithelial and endothelial recovery, and cell proliferation. Being the smallest subclass of EVs, exosomes offer striking characteristics such as cell targeting, being nano-carriers for drug delivery, high biocompatibility, safety, and low-immunogenicity, thus rendering them a potential cell-free therapeutic candidate against the pathogeneses of various diseases. Due to these properties, numerous studies and clinical trials have been performed to assess their safety and therapeutic efficacy against COVID-19. Hence, in this review, we have comprehensively described current updates on progress and challenges for EVs as a potential therapeutic agent for the management of COVID-19.
