Other Extracellular Vesicles for Disease Therapy

Recent studies have reported research on extracellular vesicles (EVs) from different sources used for the treatment of related diseases and have demonstrated the unique advantages of EVs, such as milk-derived extracellular nanosized vesicles (MENVs) and bacterial EVs (BEVs), in disease therapy. MENVs play essential roles in mother-infant communication and regulate the development of the newborn’s musculoskeletal and nervous systems as well as the gut microbiome and immunological programming. Furthermore, MENVs are also involved in neonatal diseases, such as necrotizing enterocolitis, and chronic diseases, including cancer. MENVs have been shown to be effective nanocarriers for chemotherapeutic drugs and nucleic acids, which may contribute to their excellent antitumor effects. BEVs contain various biological components from parent bacteria and have diverse functions, including the transport of virulence factors, DNA transfer, interception of bacteriophages, antibiotics, and eukaryotic host defense factors. BEVs trigger the host immune response to provide protection against infection and can be used as carriers of antitumor drugs, prominent immune adjuvants, and tumor microenvironment regulators. In this chapter, we systematically introduce recent research on MENVs and BEVs in the treatment of diseases and explore the therapeutic potential and clinical value of these EVs.