Extracellular Vesicles: Nanotechnology-Based Isolations, Characterizations, and Applications for Cancer Diagnostics and Monitoring

Dear Colleagues,

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous group of nanosized cell-derived membrane-bound vesicles that are continuously released by nearly all cells. They carry nucleic acids and many proteins reflective of their parental cells, and thus, biomarkers of cancer cells can be explored through EVs. EVs are present in a variety of body fluids including plasma, urine, saliva, ascites, and cerebrospinal fluid. EVs from tumor cells can transfer oncogenic factors through intercellular communication and regulate angiogenesis, immunity, and metastasis to promote tumorigenesis and progression. Thus, EVs hold great potential for developing next-generation liquid biopsy for cancer and some other diseases. To translate EVs into clinical applications, EVs need to be well characterized, and they often require isolation from biological fluids for accurate downstream analysis. Extensive pre-clinical studies are needed to prove the feasibility of EVs for cancer diagnostics and monitoring. Nanomaterials have unique structural and functional properties that are often not available from discrete molecules and bulk materials. Nanostructures have a large surface-to-volume ratio that allows for highly efficient target interactions. The unique structure and functional properties of nanomaterials can be used to develop new assays to overcome the limitations of the traditional methods, advancing EV research and accelerating EV translation into clinic applications.

This Special Issue aims to publish research that demonstrates the latest advancements in using nanotechnology for EV isolations, characterizations, and applications for cancer diagnostics, monitoring, and treatment. We invite submission of manuscripts on, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Nanotechnology-based methods and devices to isolate and purify EVs;
• Nanotechnology-based technologies and sensors to characterize the molecular constituents of EVs including proteins and nucleic acids;
• Application of nanotechnology-based EV analysis for cancer diagnostics;
• Application of nanotechnology-based EV analysis for cancer monitoring.

Manuscript Types:

• Article;
• Brief Report;
• Communication;
• Protocol;
• Review;
• Technical Note.

Dr. Xiaohua Huang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• extracellular vesicles
• isolation
• characterization
• cancer
• diagnostics
• monitoring
• treatment