Sat. Mar 28, 2020 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM [Room T] Sakura (1F)

Organizers: Tomohiro Asai (Univ Shizuoka Sch Pharm Sci), Ken-ichi Ogawara (Kobe Pharm Univ)

The progress of exosome research in recent years is remarkable. Many important findings on the roles of exosomes have been reported. Application of exosomes to diagnosis and treatment of diseases is considered to be a promising approach. Exosomes, closed vesicles with a particle size of 40-200 nm, are composed of lipid membranes, proteins, nucleic acids, etc., and are secreted from most cells including cancer cells and immune cells. It has been reported that exosomes are an endogenous vector that delivers nucleic acids such as mRNA, microRNA to target cells, indicating that exosomes play crucial roles on intercellular communication in the body. Based on these findings, exosomes are considered as a potential vector in the field of drug delivery system (DDS) research. Attempts to use exosomes themselves as a DDS carrier or to create an artificial carrier that mimics exosomes are expected to lead to the development of innovative medical technologies. In this symposium, leading experts who lead exosome research will introduce the latest findings and discuss for medical applications. The keywords of this symposium are "exosome" and "DDS". We would like to contribute to the advancement of DDS research by discussing the results of basic research on the physicochemical properties, pharmacokinetics, and in vivo roles of exosomes, and the application of exosomes to disease treatment.