The role of membrane vesiculation and encapsulation in cancer diagnosis and therapy

Abstract We summarize recent findings and advances in cancer diagnostics in relation to extracellular vesicles (EVs) and emerging therapeutic options of nanomaterials. We revise the common mechanism for EV inception, vesiculation, through a physical model of the liquid mosaic membrane with laterally mobile membrane rafts that determine local spontaneous curvature. If such in-plane orientational ordering is present, we show that spatial non-homogeneities may trigger energetically favourable membrane vesiculation. In addition, we revise a novel technique of cancer therapy using multifunctional titanium nanobeads (NBs) that form a fully biocompatible system used for optical imaging, magnetic resonance imaging and selective reactive oxygen species photo-generation. We study the encapsulation of these functional NBs theoretically with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and find that the wrapping transition depends on the strength of mobile charges, giving insight into future functional optimization for maximum therapeutic benefit.