Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated Communication Nanonetworks: Opportunities and Challenges

Extracellular vesicle (EV)-mediated signaling is a highly evolutionary conserved intercellular mechanism in which the biological information is packaged, transported, and delivered to the target cells. The potential of EVs for diagnostic and therapeutic applications has recently received significant attention. To enhance the potential of EVs for more extensive functionalities, here we motivate the concept of engineered EV-mediat-ed communication nanonetworks. Corresponding with the EV-mediated intercellular signaling network components that naturally extend the limited ability of individual cells to perform the intricate vital functions, we propose a fundamental molecular communication network framework and review the potential experimental techniques to obtain data for its validation. The proposed framework paves the way for the development of engineered EV-mediated communication networks and enables novel approaches, perspectives, tools, and metrics to reveal the principles and emergent properties of biological EV-mediat-ed signaling networks the understanding of which is still obscure.