Engineered plant-derived extracellular vesicles tagged with magnetic nanoparticles as novel antitumoral agents

In recent decades, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as promising therapeutics in biomedicine due to their crucial role in intercellular communication and their capacity to deliver biomolecules such as proteins, lipids, and RNAs to recipient cells. Despite their potential, EVs derived from mammalian sources face several challenges, including safety concerns, high production costs, and inconsistent reproducibility. Plant-derived EVs, however, present a safer and more effective alternative, thanks to their non-toxic nature, lack of immunogenicity, and unique molecular biocargo. The EMERGE project aims to create innovative hybrid nanomaterials for cancer treatment by combining plant-EVs with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). This novel approach not only exploit the inherent safety and therapeutic potential of plant-EVs but also addresses production challenges by employing plant cell cultures (PCCs) as biofactories for EV production. MNPs will serve a dual purpose: they will facilitate the selective purification of EVs from PCC-conditioned media and enhance their anticancer effects through magnetic hyperthermia (MHT). The project will focus on refining EV purification and functionalization, optimizing the loading of anticancer agents, and assessing the effectiveness of MNP@eEVs in both traditional 2D cancer cell models and advanced 3D patient-derived tumor organoids (tumoroids). Tumoroids, as advanced models derived from patient samples, offer a cutting-edge approach to personalized medicine, providing more precise testing environments for therapeutic strategies. By integrating plant-derived EVs with MNPs and utilizing MHT, EMERGE aims to push the boundaries of drug delivery systems and enhance cancer treatment outcomes, marking a significant advancement in the field of nanomedicine.