The biology, function, and applications of exosomes as novel biomarkers for in-vivo drug exposure variability

Exosomes have become one of the hotspots in life science research in recent years. As an important carrier of bio-information substances, they can mediate intercellular communication by carrying various bioactive substances, thereby activating specific signal transduction pathways within cells and ultimately regulating cell phenotypes and functions. Among the abundant cargoes carried by exosomes, drug-metabolizing enzymes have gradually attracted increasing attention from researchers. More and more evidence suggests that the abundance and activity levels of these specific drug-metabolizing enzymes encapsulated in exosomes can often reflect the dynamic gene expression in their parent cells, which is of great significance for studying inter-individual variability in drug exposure. Based on this, this article reviews the biological origin of exosomes, related regulatory programs, their potential as biomarkers indicating in vivo drug exposure, and related research results in the above fields in recent years, aiming to deepen the understanding of the role of exosomes in drug metabolism and provide more reference for future research on individualized drug administration of exosomes.