Exosomes, which are approximately 100 nm vesicles secreted by cells, have been studied with respect to cell-to-cell communication, disease diagnosis and intracellular delivery. The cellular uptake of exosomes occurs by endocytosis; however, the cytosolic release efficiency of encapsulated molecules inside cells is low. To address this issue, here we demonstrate a simple technique for enhancing the cellular uptake and cytosolic release of exosomes by combining a pH-sensitive fusogenic peptide for the fusion of endosomal and exosomal membranes inside cells. This method stimulates the efficient cytosolic release of the exosomal contents with cationic lipids that act as a “glue” to support cellular uptake. Using this simple combined technique, the effective cellular uptake and cytosolic release of an artificially encapsulated dextran macromolecule (70 kDa) in exosomes are achieved and a marked improvement in bioactivity is attained with the artificially encapsulated ribosome-inactivating protein saporin. Our method will contribute to many biological research fields, including the assessment of the activities of exosomal contents and the development of candidate tools enabling intracellular visualisation and cellular regulation for future therapeutic applications.

Exosomes are approximately 100-nm vesicles that consist of a lipid bilayer of cellular membranes secreted in large quantities from various types of normal and disease-related cells. Endocytosis has been reported as a major pathway for the cellular uptake of exosomes; however, the detailed mechanisms of their cellular uptake are still unknown. Here, we demonstrate the active induction of macropinocytosis (accompanied by actin reorganisation, ruffling of plasma membrane and engulfment of large volumes of extracellular fluid) by stimulation of cancer-related receptors and show that the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor significantly enhances the cellular uptake of exosomes. We also demonstrate that oncogenic K-Ras-expressing MIA PaCa-2 cells exhibit intensive macropinocytosis that actively transports extracellular exosomes into the cells compared with wild-type K-Ras-expressing BxPC-3 cells. Furthermore, encapsulation of the ribosome-inactivating protein saporin with EGF in exosomes using our simple electroporation method produces superior cytotoxicity via the enhanced cellular uptake of exosomes. Our findings contribute to the biological, pharmaceutical and medical research fields in terms of understanding the macropinocytosis-mediated cellular uptake of exosomes with applications for exosomal delivery systems.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) including exosomes have been shown to play crucial roles in cell-to-cell communication because of their ability to carry biofunctional molecules (e.g., microRNAs and enzymes). EVs also have pharmaceutical advantages and are highly anticipated to be a next-generation intracellular delivery tool. Here, we demonstrate an experimental technique that uses arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptide (CPP)-modified EVs to induce active macropinocytosis for effective cellular EV uptake. Modification of arginine-rich CPPs on the EV membrane resulted in the activation of the macropinocytosis pathway, and the number of arginine residues in the peptide sequences affected the cellular EV uptake efficiency. Consequently, the ribosome-inactivating protein saporin-encapsulated EVs modified with hexadeca-arginine (R16) peptide effectively attained anti-cancer activity.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs, exosomes) are approximately 30- to 200-nm-long vesicles that have received increased attention due to their role in cell-to-cell communication. Although EVs are highly anticipated to be a next-generation intracellular delivery tool because of their pharmaceutical advantages, including non-immunogenicity, their cellular uptake efficacy is low because of the repulsion of EVs and negatively charged cell membranes and size limitations in endocytosis. Here, we demonstrate a methodology for achieving enhanced cellular EV uptake using arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) to induce active macropinocytosis. The induction of macropinocytosis via a simple modification to the exosomal membrane using stearylated octaarginine, which is a representative CPP, significantly enhanced the cellular EV uptake efficacy. Consequently, effective EV-based intracellular delivery of an artificially encapsulated ribosome-inactivating protein, saporin, in EVs was attained.

Plant ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) toxins are EC3.2.2.22 N-glycosidases, found among most plant species encoded as small gene families, distributed in several tissues being endowed with defensive functions against fungal or viral infections. The two main plant RIP classes include type I (monomeric) and type II (dimeric) as the prototype ricin holotoxin from Ricinus communis that is composed of a catalytic active A chain linked via a disulphide bridge to a B-lectin domain that mediates efficient endocytosis in eukaryotic cells. Plant RIPs can recognize a universally conserved stem-loop, known as the α-sarcin/ ricin loop or SRL structure in 23S/25S/28S rRNA. By depurinating a single adenine (A4324 in 28S rat rRNA), they can irreversibly arrest protein translation and trigger cell death in the intoxicated mammalian cell. Besides their useful application as potential weapons against infected/tumor cells, ricin was also used in bio-terroristic attacks and, as such, constitutes a major concern. In this review, we aim to summarize past studies and more recent progresses made studying plant RIPs and discuss successful approaches that might help overcoming some of the bottlenecks encountered during the development of their biomedical applications.

In this study, we designed and synthesized organelle-targeted cell-penetrating peptide (CPP)-conjugated boron compounds to increase their cellular uptake and to control the intracellular locations for the induction of sophisticated anticancer biological activity in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), leading to anticancer effects with ATP reduction and apoptosis when irradiated with neutrons in an in vitro BNCT assay.