• Therapeutic Potential of neural stem cells (NSCs)-derived exosomes as Drug Delivery Systems in Brain Cancer
  • Fatemeh Davodabadi,1,*
    1. Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.


  • Introduction: It is difficult to effectively deliver therapeutic agents from the peripheral blood circulation to brain tumor cells because of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This makes treating tumors in the central nervous system (CNS) more challenging. Natural or modified exosomes can penetrate the BBB, acting as messengers for intercellular communication. Therapeutic agents are being delivered to the CNS with neural stem cells (NSCs)-derived exosomes increasingly as an invasive or non-invasive method.
  • Methods: This is an overview study. The keywords “neural stem cells”, “Brain cancer”, and “Exosome” were used for Science databases the search in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of for studies published.
  • Results: As a result of their small size and specific surface proteins, NSC-derived exosomes have several advantages over cell-based therapy, such as reduced immune response and improved brain targeting. Engineered exosomes that carry therapeutic agents like TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and thymidine kinase (TK) enhance their therapeutic potential even further. Additionally, exosomes are produced in relatively large quantities by these cells. As a result of their reduced immunogenicity, extended half-life, and BBB penetration capabilities, exosomes are increasingly used for brain delivery of small molecules, nucleic acids, and proteins.
  • Conclusion: To overcome the BBB, exosome-based therapeutics could provide a non-invasive, targeted, and biologically compatible approach.
  • Keywords: Exosome, Neural stem cells, Drug delivery systems, Brain cancer