Unveiling the Secrets of Exosomes

Joshua Beverley is a Senior Patent Analyst at PatWorld Ltd and uses his expertise to unleash the power of patents, one analysis at a time. As a Senior Biotechnology Patent Analyst, Joshua dives deep into the world of intellectual property, decoding complex patent data with precision and finesse. With expertise in industry-leading databases and a passion for uncovering insights, he helps clients navigate the realms of Freedom to Operate, Invalidity, Patentability, and Landscape searches.

Introducing Exosomes 

Exosomes are small spherical extracellular vesicles (EVs) that are released from the endosomal compartment of most cells and can be identified in blood, saliva, urine, and even cerebrospinal fluid, making them potential indicators of cellular health. Characterised by having a generally smaller diameter than most other EVs, ranging from 30-150nm, compared with microvesicles (100nm-1um) and apoptotic bodies (50nm-5um), exosomes are formed upon the inward budding of a multivesicular body (MVB), and released into the extracellular space during fusion of the MVB with the plasma membrane or cell surface. 

Once released from the MVB into the extracellular fluid they have been implicated in a variety of cellular functions such as cell-to-cell communicating, secretion of active molecules, and mediation of transduction signals. The consequent downstream effects from exosomal communication could impact immunity, homeostasis, regeneration, and even cellular responses to pathogenesis, such as in cancer, neurodegeneration, and cardiovascular diseases.