Engineered exosome-mediated delivery of RNAi therapeutics towards triple negative breast cancer therapy

Abstract

[Excerpt] Breast cancer was the leading cause of global cancer incidence in 2020, with an estimated 2.3 million new diagnosed cases among women. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) characterized by the absence of hormone receptors, lack of expression of epidermal growth factor receptor-2 and poor prognosis, represents about 10-20% of all breast cancers. Hence, an efficient targeted delivery system is urgently needed for TNBC therapy. Exosomes are natural and nanosized intraluminal vesicles, with a size range of ~30 to 150 nm, released by most cell types. They are present in almost all biological fluids and function as natural transporters of molecules between neighboring and distant cells. Thus, exosomes may serve as endogenous vehicles for drug delivery such as chemotherapeutic agents, short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) or even microRNAs (miRNAs). Herein, we describe the development of a novel targeted cancer therapeutic platform for TNBC therapy by exosome-mediated delivery of RNAi-based therapeutics. [...]