Shaping extracellular vesicle fate through functional protein corona formation for liver fibrosis treatment

Calvin Chun Long Cheung, PhD – Senior Technical Officer, Pharmacology and Pharmacy, The University of Hong Kong; Debajyoti Chowdhury, PhD, MRSB – Research Officer, Pharmacology and Pharmacy, The University of Hong Kong; Khuloud Al-Jamal, FRPharmS, FRSC, FHEA – Lo Shiu Kwan Kan Po Ling Professor in Pharmacy, Pharmacology and Pharmacy, The University of Hong Kong

Introduction:

Liver fibrosis driven by chronic inflammation can progress to cirrhosis, a life-threatening condition with no FDA-approved therapies beyond liver transplantation, which is limited by donor shortages. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) are promising therapeutics. In our previous study (1), we introduced an albumin-enriched protein corona on MSC-EVs to enhance targeting to hepatic stellate cells and hepatocytes, reduce clearance, and prolong liver retention. These EVs exhibited anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects in vitro and in vivo, highlighting protein corona formation as a strategy to optimize EV-based therapies for liver fibrosis.