Topic: Plant-Derived Vesicles: From Fundamental Biology to Precision Therapeutics

Plant-derived vesicles (PDVs) have emerged as a unique class of bioactive nanoscale carriers that bridge fundamental plant biology with emerging precision therapeutics. Composed of lipids, proteins, metabolites, and nucleic acids, PDVs mediate intercellular communication within plants and exhibit notable stability, biocompatibility, and low immunogenicity when interacting across species. PDVs’ natural ability to encapsulate, protect, and deliver functional cargos positions them as a promising platform for targeted drug delivery and novel therapeutic interventions.

Growing evidence shows that PDVs can modulate immune responses, reshape microbiome dynamics, regulate metabolic and signaling pathways, and promote tissue repair in mammalian cells and animal models. Importantly, PDVs have demonstrated therapeutic potential across diverse medical areas, including inflammatory diseases, oncology, metabolic disorders, and regenerative medicine. These cross-species biological activities, coupled with selective tissue tropism and intrinsic therapeutic properties, underscore the expanding translational potential of PDVs. Nonetheless, several critical challenges persist, including defining vesicle biogenesis, elucidating cargo-sorting mechanisms, clarifying cellular uptake pathways, and identifying the determinants of inter-kingdom specificity. Addressing these challenges is essential for transforming PDVs from natural plant messengers into engineered, clinically relevant precision therapeutics.

This Special Issue aims to integrate advances in basic biology, bioengineering, and translational science to bridge the gap between bench and bedside, thereby accelerating the clinical translation of PDV-based therapeutics.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

● Biogenesis, molecular composition, and native biological functions of PDVs;

● Advances and challenges in PDV isolation, purification, characterization, and standardization;

● Mechanisms of PDV–mammalian cell interactions and inter-kingdom communication;

● Therapeutic applications of PDVs in inflammatorydiseases, oncology, metabolic disorders, and regenerative medicine;

● Engineering and functional modification of PDVs for targeted cargo delivery;

● Oral, mucosal, and systemic delivery properties, including stability and biodistribution.

Plant-derived vesicles, biogenesis and cargo sorting, inter-kingdom communication, cellular uptake mechanisms, vesicle engineering, precision therapeutics