Magnetic and Photoresponsive Theranosomes: Translating Cell-Released Vesicles into Smart Nanovectors for Cancer Therapy

Cell-released vesicles are natural carriers that circulate in body fluids and transport biological agents to distal cells. As nature uses vesicles in cell communication to promote tumor progression, we propose to harness their unique properties and exploit these biogenic carriers as Trojan horses to deliver therapeutic payloads to cancer cells. In a theranostic approach, cell-released vesicles were engineered by a top-down procedure from precursor cells, previously loaded with a photosensitizer and magnetic nanoparticles. The double exogenous cargo provided vesicles with magnetic and optical responsiveness allowing therapeutic and imaging functions. This new class of cell-derived smart nanovectors was named theranosomes. Theranosomes enabled efficient photodynamic tumor therapy in a murine cancer model in vivo. Moreover the distribution of this biogenic vector could be monitored by dual-mode imaging, combining fluorescence and MRI. This study reports the first success in translating a cell communication mediator into a smart theranostic nanovector.