Biomedical Applications of Medicinal Plant Extracellular Vesicles: Recent Advancements and Prospects

Medicinal plant extracellular vesicles (MPEVs) are a class of nano-scale membrane vesicles derived from medicinal plants. As an important mediator of intracellular and intercellular communication, they are essential for both plant metabolism and immune defense. Furthermore, they also transport bioactive components to target cells through endocytosis and plasma membrane invagination, thereby achieving cross-border regulation of physiological activities in fungi and animal cells. Numerous preclinical investigations have confirmed that MPEVs have been extracted from dozens of medicinal plants such as Ginger and Ginseng, and they have the potential to target and penetrate biological barriers. Besides, MPEVs have the advantages of wide source, high yield, low immunogenicity, excellent biocompatibility, and strong modifiability, positioning them as a scalable and sustainable alternative to mammalian-derived extracellular vesicles. Nevertheless, there remains a knowledge gap regarding the standardization of isolation and characterization techniques for MPEVs from various medicinal plants, and clinical research and application are still lacking. Whereupon this paper systematically reviews the research on the formation, classification, isolation and identification methods, biological activities and potential applications as carriers of bioactive substances of MPEVs, with the aim of promoting the establishment of research standards for MPEVs, and providing a theoretical reference for advancing the study and application of MPEVs as novel active ingredients. • 1.MPEVs are novel bioactive components of traditional medicinal plants. • 3.MPEVs are an innovative and high-quality potential drug and gene carrier. • 2.MPEVs participate in cell communication and transportation of bioactive components. • 4.MPEVs have various biological activities and broad prospects in disease prevention and control.