Nanoghosts: Harnessing Mesenchymal Stem Cell Membrane for Construction of Drug Delivery Platforms Via Optimized Biomimetics

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are becoming hotspots for application in disease therapies recently, combining with biomaterials and drug delivery system. A major advantage of MSCs applied in drug delivery system is that these cells enable specific targeting and releasing of cargos to the disease sites. However, the potential tumor tropic effects of MSCs raised concerns on biosafety. To solve this problem, there are emerging methods of isolating cell membranes and developing nanoformulations to perform drug delivery, which avoids concerns on biosafety without disturbing the membrane functions of specific polarizing and locating. These cargoes are so called nanoghosts. This review article summarizes the current applications of nanoghosts, the promising potential of MSCs to be applied in membrane isolation and nanoghost construction, and possible approaches to develop better drug delivery system harnessing from MSC ghost cell membranes.

Automated summary

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) combined with biomaterials and drug delivery system have gained increasing attention for disease therapies. MSCs applied in drug delivery system have the advantage of specific targeting and releasing of cargos to disease sites. However, concerns on biosafety arise due to the potential tumor tropic effects of MSCs. To address this, emerging methods of isolating cell membranes and developing nanoformulations, called nanoghosts, have been developed to achieve drug delivery without compromising membrane functions.