Currently,
glioma treatment is limited by two main factors: timely detection at onset or relapse and restriction of drugs by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) from entering the brain and influencing
tumor growth. However, a safe BBB-traversing drug delivery system has brought new hope to
glioma treatment. Exosomes have strong cargo-loading capacity and have the ability to cross the BBB. They can also be conferred with the ability for targeted delivery. Therefore, exosomes have great promise to be a targeted drug delivery vehicles. In this study, we firstly loaded superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) and
curcumin (Cur) into exosomes and then conjugated the exosome membrane with neuropilin-1-targeted
peptide (RGERPPR, RGE) by click chemistry to obtain
glioma-targeting exosomes with imaging and therapeutic functions. When administered to
glioma cells and orthotopic
glioma models, we found that these engineered exosomes could cross the BBB smoothly and provided good results for targeted imaging and
therapy of
glioma. Furthermore, SPION-mediated magnetic flow
hyperthermia (MFH) and Cur-mediated
therapy also showed a potent synergistic antitumor effect. Therefore, the diagnostic and
therapeutic effects on
glioma were significantly improved, while reducing the side effects. We have designed a new type of
glioma-targeting exosomes, which can carry nanomaterials and chemical agents for simultaneous diagnosis and treatment of
glioma, thus providing a potential approach for improving the diagnosis and treatment effects of intracranial
tumors.