Additional information
by Yong Chen (Guest Editor)
In recent decades, the basic, pre-clinical, and clinical research relating to membrane vesicles, including extracellular vesicles and other membrane vesicle types, has developed rapidly and obtained great achievements in many aspects, particularly the applications related to disease therapy in the form of drug delivery systems. Hundreds and thousands of related studies have been reported in recent years, dazzling readers, particularly non-professionals or beginners in this research field, and making it difficult to understand the latest advances. This reprint organizes an article collection of membrane vesicles (particularly extracellular vesicles), providing an overview of many aspects of membrane vesicles as drug delivery systems, including their sources, preparation, modification, drug loading, in vivo administration, as well as their biodistribution and applications in various diseases (e.g., cardiovascular, nervous, cancer, and bone-related diseases, as well as organ transplantation, vaccine, and others). Each article was written by leading experts in related research field who share their insights, research findings, summaries, and future perspectives here. The aim of this reprint is to help non-professionals or beginners (e.g., undergraduates and junior graduate students) in this research field get an overall preliminary understanding and to help the professionals to quickly digest the major recent advances in various aspects of membrane vesicles or extracellular vesicles as drug delivery systems through only one article collection.
