Surface-Engineered Extracellular Vesicles for Selective Cancer Killing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and targeted therapies, often cause severe side effects due to non-selective action on both cancer and normal cells, and immune-based treatments can lead to acute inflammatory diseases, necessitating a more specific and safe approach.

Innovation Solution

Development of extracellular vesicles expressing cytokines and antibodies on their surface, produced by transforming immune cells with specific vectors, enabling targeted cancer cell recognition and cytotoxicity while encapsulating therapeutic agents.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional anticancer drugs are used to inhibit cancer cell proliferation, then anticancer effects are achieved, but serious side effects occur due to non-selective action on normal cells as well as cancer cells

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveanticancer effectVSAvoidside effects on normal cells
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by equipping extracellular vesicles with specific surface proteins (antibodies or antigen-presenting complexes) that enable them to selectively recognize and bind to cancer cells. This localized targeting capability ensures that the cytotoxic contents are delivered only to cancer cells expressing specific antigens, while normal cells without these antigens remain unaffected, thereby resolving the contradiction between achieving anticancer effects and avoiding side effects on normal cells

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Object-affected harmful factors

If targeted anticancer drugs are used to specifically act on cancer cells, then treatment specificity is improved, but discrepancies in treatment efficiency occur depending on patient characteristics

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetreatment specificityVSAvoidtreatment efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies universality by designing extracellular vesicles with a modular structure that can be customized for different cancer types and patient characteristics. The vesicles can be engineered to display various targeting molecules on their surface and encapsulate different cytotoxic payloads, making them universally applicable across multiple cancer indications while maintaining high treatment efficiency through optimized cargo delivery to cancer cells

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Reliability

If immune cells are excessively activated to enhance anticancer immunity, then cancer cell recognition is improved, but acute inflammatory diseases occur due to excessive immune system activation

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimmune responseVSAvoidacute inflammatory diseases
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies the taking out principle by extracting the cytotoxic functions from living immune cells and transferring them into extracellular vesicles. The vesicles contain cytotoxic molecules such as perforin and granzymes that were originally produced by immune cells, but are now delivered in a controlled manner without requiring excessive immune cell activation. This extraction approach maintains effective cancer cell killing while avoiding the harmful effects of uncontrolled immune activation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP4209586B1Extracellular vesicle expressing cytokine and antibody, method for producing same, and use thereof
Publication Date: 2025.10.29 DAEGU GYEONGBUK INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
  • EP4209586B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4209586B1 patent drawingFigure 3a~4
  • EP4209586B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6a

AI summary

The present invention relates to an extracellular vesicle expressing a cytokine and an antibody, a method for producing same, and a use thereof. The present invention provides a method for producing an immune cell expressing both a cytokine and an antibody on membrane surface by transforming them with a first vector encoding a cytokine and a second vector encoding an antibody, and producing their extracellular vesicle expressing both a cytokine and an antibody on the surface. The present invention provides the extracellular vesicle which induces a desired cytokine response in cells that can be targeted with a specific antibody and is safe for the human body while exhibiting excellent anticancer effects. The present invention provides a new cancer treatment means that deliver drugs or physiologically active substances to specific cancer cells by loading a drug or physiologically active substance that exhibits a therapeutic effect on cancer in the extracellular vesicle.