Our Research
Extracellular vesicle characterisation
Our group has systematically characterized EVs using a combination of biochemical, biophysical, and functional methods to assess their size, morphology, composition, and biological activity.
Physical and morphological characterization:
Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) to measure size distribution and concentration.
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to obtain high-resolution images of EV structure.
Biochemical and molecular characterization:
Western Blotting - Detecting key EV markers such as CD9, CD63, CD81, ALIX, and TSG101.
Exoview R100 - Pulls together fluorescence imaging and single particle interferometry to provide complete characterisation of exosomes.
Flow Cytometry - Analysing surface markers at the single-vesicle level.
Examination of EV cargo:
qPCR/RT-PCR - to identify and quantify RNA species (e.g., miRNAs, mRNAs, lncRNAs).
RNA Sequencing - for comprehensive transcriptomic profiling.
Functional characterization:
Cellular uptake assays to track EV internalization.
In vitro bioassays to assess their effects on proliferation, apoptosis, and immune modulation.
Animal models to evaluate therapeutic potential and biodistribution.
These integrated approaches allow us to thoroughly investigate EV properties and their applications in regenerative medicine.
Kidney disease
We investigated EV-based therapies for kidney diseases, highlighting their protective, anti-inflammatory, and pro-survival effects.
In both AKI and CKD models, stem cell-derived EVs demonstrated the ability to reduce renal damage, enhance recovery, modulate immune responses, and minimize fibrosis.
Although EVs present a safer alternative to stem cell therapies, challenges such as scalable production and targeted delivery persist. Advancing EV engineering will be crucial to optimizing their clinical application.
Liver disease
We investigated EV-based therapies as a stable and efficient alternative to cell treatments, capable of crossing biological barriers and delivering bioactive molecules. EVs avoid immune rejection and tumorigenicity while exhibiting anti-tumor properties by regulating the cell cycle and promoting cancer cell apoptosis.
In liver disease models, EVs derived from serum, stem cells, and hepatocytes demonstrated consistent anti-fibrotic effects across various types of injury, including toxic, ischemic, and diet-induced damage. They inhibited hepatic stellate cell activation, a key driver of fibrosis, while reducing inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress. Additionally, EVs promoted hepatocyte proliferation, ultimately improving liver function and morphology.
Key challenges include optimizing EV sources, scaling production, and validating dosage. Moving forward, our research focuses on identifying the specific EV components responsible for their pro-regenerative and anti-fibrotic effects while ensuring long-term safety for clinical applications in liver disease treatment.
Urea cycle disorders
Our study explores the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from human liver stem cells (HLSCs) as paracrine mediators capable of transferring proteins and nucleic acids to recipient cells, inducing epigenetic changes.
We demonstrate that EVs from healthy HLSCs can restore ASS1 enzyme function in hepatocytes derived from a patient with citrullinemia type I, highlighting their potential for targeted molecular correction in inherited diseases.
In the future, EV-based therapies could provide a novel approach for treating genetic disorders by enabling precise molecular interventions. Further research is needed to optimize EV cargo loading, improve delivery efficiency, and ensure long-term safety, paving the way for their clinical application.
EVs derived from normal HLSCs can restore the altered phenotype of HLSCs obtained from a patient with type I Citrullinemia (ASS-HLSCs).
Extracellular vesicle Engineering
Extracellular vesicles - Biomarkers