Production of bioactive protein-carrying exosomes based on a specific light stimulation-induced protein-protein interaction module and its application

Abstract

In tandem with the discovery of bioactive proteins for treating various human diseases, there has been growing interest in making protein carriers using nanoparticles. Nanoparticle-mediated protein delivery methods protect encapsulated proteins in an in vivo delivery process, however, not only the cargo proteins were difficult to translocate to the cytosolic fraction after delivery into target cells but also preparation of purified proteins were complicated. To address these issues, by integrating exosomes with a reversible blue light-mediated protein-protein interaction module, I have developed optogenetic exosomes that are capable of both transient docking and intracellular transfer of functional cargo proteins. This novel protein carrier platform could be capable of stable protein transportation in vivo, leading to a new paradigm for protein drug development.