Plant Exosomes Topics

Plant exosome concept:

Plant exosomes are nanosized vesicles secreted by plant cells containing DNA, small RNA (small RNA, sRNA), microRNA (miRNA) and proteins that mediate intercellular communication. Among them, miRNAs are highly efficient gene expression regulators and can regulate gene expression across borders; sRNAs are transferred between host and organisms through intercellular filaments and induce gene silencing. Plant exosomes play anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-fibrotic and anti-tumor roles through the substances they contain, and participate in the defense response to pathogen attack. Most of the exosome nanoparticles are edible and can be used as carriers for delivery of specific drugs without toxicity and side effects, thus they have become one of the hot spots of research.

Plant exosome characterization:

(1) Nanoscale size

The diameter of plant exosomes is usually between 30-800 nm, which belongs to the nanoscale size. This nanoscale size allows plant exosomes to easily penetrate the skin barrier and enter the skin cells to perform their biological functions.

(2) High stability

Plant exosomes have high stability and can maintain their structure and activity under different environmental conditions. This makes plant exosomes in the production, storage and use of cosmetics can maintain stability and play its due efficacy.

(3) Good biocompatibility

Plant exosomes have good biocompatibility with human cells and do not cause allergies, irritation and other adverse reactions. This makes plant exosomes have high safety in the field of cosmetics.

(4) Carrying active ingredients

Plant exosomes carry a variety of active ingredients in plant cells, such as proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and so on. These active ingredients have a variety of biological functions, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, repair, etc., and can provide comprehensive skin care.

Extraction methods of plant exosomes

Plant exosomes are extracted in a similar way to other exosomes, and traditional separation methods such as ultracentrifugation and immunoaffinity capture can be applied; however, due to the existence of cell walls and mechanical tissues in plant cells, auxiliary means such as cellulolytic enzymes can also be considered when necessary. For example, berry plants, such as tomatoes, water chestnuts, etc. are rich in water, only through the traditional mechanical pulverization combined with the existing exosome extraction technology can realize the effective extraction of exosomes. For non-berry plants, such as ginseng, Panax quinquefolius and other tuberous medicinal plants, the direct extraction of exosomes is more difficult, and it is necessary to use enzyme digestion and other means of sample pretreatment.

At present, the separation methods of exosomes mainly include Differentail centrifugation,Density-gradient centrifugation, size exclusion ,Magnetic activated,Polymer-Based,Immunological Methods,Microfluidics and ExcCap Kit. Each of these separation methods has its own advantages and limitations. The specificity of plant exosome extraction usually combines ultracentrifugation and density gradient centrifugation. Firstly, the part to be extracted is processed and then centrifuged at low speed to remove impurities, then centrifuged at high speed to separate the exosomes, and then purified using density gradient. The extraction method is adjusted in the experiment according to the type of plant to be extracted, the part and the purpose of action.

The role of plant exosomes in cosmetics

(1) Antioxidant effects

Plant exosomes are rich in antioxidant components such as polyphenols and flavonoids. These antioxidant components can scavenge free radicals in skin cells, reduce oxidative damage and delay skin aging.

(2) Anti-inflammatory effect

Plant exosomes contain a variety of anti-inflammatory components, such as polysaccharides, alkaloids and so on. These anti-inflammatory components can inhibit the inflammatory response within the skin cells, reduce skin inflammation and alleviate skin sensitivity.

(3) Moisturizing effect

Plant exosomes contain a variety of moisturizing components, such as hyaluronic acid, glycerol and so on. These moisturizing components can form on the skin surface.

(4) Repair effect

Plant exosomes contain a variety of repair components, such as growth factors, collagen and so on. These repair components can promote the regeneration and repair of skin cells, accelerate wound healing and improve skin texture.

Safety of Phyto-Exosomes in Cosmetics

As a natural cosmetic raw material, plant exosome has high safety. Plant exosomes have good biocompatibility with human cells and will not cause allergies, irritation and other adverse reactions. In addition, the extraction process of plant exosomes usually adopts a mild method, which will not destroy the active ingredients in plant cells or produce harmful substances.

However, in order to ensure the safety of plant exosomes in cosmetics, strict quality control and safety evaluation are also required. When choosing plant exosomes as raw materials for cosmetics, raw materials with reliable sources and stable quality should be selected.

The role of plant exosomes in medicine

Since exosomes play an important role in many physiological processes, inhibiting the production of exosomes, increasing the uptake of exosomes, and modifying exosomes can effectively promote the treatment of diseases. Meanwhile, exosomes also have the advantages of low tumorigenicity and low immunogenicity. Exosomes can promote tumor cell apoptosis by activating the mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathway. In addition, exosomes are widely used in the treatment of skin diseases, diabetes, organ damage repair, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases and other fields.

Exosome toxicity is small, low immunogenicity, can penetrate into the depths of the body, since its birth is a “super courier”. Currently Exosomes have been proven to naturally transport a variety of cellular metabolic cargo, such as proteins, nucleic acids, small molecules, gene therapy drugs, etc. Exosomes have been used as carriers for protein delivery, nucleic acid delivery, viral vector delivery, and small molecule delivery. Exosomes have been used by research teams to load molecules such as paclitaxel, zwitterionin, adriamycin, artesunate, etc. and have shown excellent results.