The 141st Annual Meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan (Hiroshima)

Organizer: Nakamura Takashi (Fac. Pharm. Sci., Hokkaido Univ.), Tsujihata Shigetomo (Fujifilm)

Recent progress in the area of exosome research has been remarkable and has resulted in a large number of significant findings in the last 10 years. Their applications extend to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Exosomes are endosome-derived extracellular vesicles with a particle size of 30-150 nm and are composed of lipid membranes, proteins, nucleic acids, and related molecules. Exosomes contain various bioactive substances, and act as a transporter in cell-cell communication. This makes exosomes quite attractive targets for drug delivery system (DDS) with extremely precisely controlled tissue/cell selectivity. Some of the new technological innovations that transcend the barriers of conventional DDS technology brought about by the application of exosomes to DDS are discussed. In this symposium, leading researchers in the field of exosome DDS will introduce cutting-edge knowledge regarding “DDS issues solved by using exosomes” and “new DDS technology created by exosomes”. Our goal is to provide an update on DDS research that involves exosomes and applications to various drug discovery modalities.