With 25% of all exosome publications released in the past year and exosome companies flooding into the marketplace, we are witnessing an exosome explosion. Exosomes are small vesicles ranging from 30-100nm in size that are found in nearly all eukaryotic fluids and facilitate a range of important cellular functions. Specifically, they transfer DNA, RNA, and proteins to other cells, thereby altering the function of the targeted cells.
Exosomes are commonly found in blood, urine, and saliva, among other fluids. Exosomes are also present in other body fluids, such as synovial fluid, amniotic fluid, semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk, and more.
It has been long known that stem cells have the potential to exert therapeutic effects, but it has only been recently recognized that exosomes play an important role how stem cells exert their cellular functions. [Read more…]