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Exosomes, a category of extracellular vesicle (EV), are phospholipid bilayer structures ranging from 30 to 150 nm, produced by various organisms through the endosomal pathway. Recent studies have established the utilization of exosomes as nanocarriers for drug distribution across various therapeutic areas including cancer, acute liver injury, neuroprotection, oxidative stress, inflammation, etc. The importance of plant-derived exosomes and exosome vesicles derived from mammalian cells or milk, loaded with potent plant bioactives for various therapeutic indications are discussed along with insights into future perspectives. Moreover, this review provides a detailed understanding of exosome biogenesis, their composition, classification, stability of different types of exosomes, and different routes of administration along with the standard techniques used for isolating, purifying, and characterizing exosomes. Plain Language Summary Exosomes are tiny, spherical structures made of two layers of lipids, measuring between 30 and 150 nm in diameter. They are flexible, less harmful to the immune system, can cross barriers in the body, and also can be used as vehicles to carry drugs. Various methods are used to obtain, separate, and purify the exosomes based on their size, shape, density, and specific markers. Exosomes obtained from plants can treat various diseases as they are less toxic, have high permeability, and are environmentally safe. The chemical compounds obtained from plants can be loaded into the exosomes obtained from sources like milk, or human cells both healthy and diseased, having the ability to treat cancer, inflammation, liver diseases, etc. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT Article highlights Introduction to exosomes Exosomes are small vesicles released by most eukaryotic cells, that facilitate intercellular communication and possess an extended half-life, allowing them to traverse extended distances within the body under both normal and disease conditions. Advantages of exosomes The exceptional drug-delivery potential of exosomes, originating from their less immunogenic, non-cytotoxic, and non-mutagenic ability, surpasses that of liposomes. In advanced medicine, exosomes are investigated as a promising cell-free therapy due to their targeted effects on cells, reduced safety issues, and low manufacturing costs in comparison to cell-based therapies. Challenges with exosomes Human cell-derived exosomes have scalability and scalability challenges associated with the low yield. To address this exosome-derived plants have emerged as a promising alternative. Ethical concerns Researchers must thoroughly evaluate the potential risks associated with exosome-based therapies, including immunogenicity, off-target effects, and long-term complications. Patients should be fully informed about the nature of exosome therapy, including its potential benefits, risks, and uncertainties. In-depth investigation of the animal-derived, and plant-derived exosomes is required before using them for therapeutic interventions. Advantages of plant-derived exosomes Plant-derived exosomes owing to their small size are considered to be environmentally safe, less toxic, and have high permeability; biological functions and pharmacological properties of plant-derived exosomes closely resemble those of their parent plants and often surpass those of isolated plant compounds. Isolation & purification methods The selection of different isolation and purification methods such as ultracentrifugation, size-based separation, polymer-based methods, affinity-based separation, and microfluidic systems are to be taken care of as they can influence the purity and the physiological characteristics of the exosomes. Future perspectives The plant-derived exosomes with their superior advantages of higher yield, widely available, prolonged half-life, and better stability in biological fluids show future potential for treatment strategy and therapeutic intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 2019, the Chinese city of Wuhan was the center of origin of a pneumonia-like disease outbreak with an unknown causative pathogen. The CDC, China, managed to track the source of infection to a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV; SARS-CoV-2) that shares approximately 79.6% of its genome with SARS-CoV. The World Health Organization (WHO) initially declared COVID-19 as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and later characterized it as a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Due to the novel nature of this virus, there is an urgent need for vaccines and therapeutics to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its associated disease, COVID-19. Global efforts are underway to circumvent its further spread and treat COVID-19 patients through experimental vaccine formulations and therapeutic interventions, respectively. In the absence of any effective therapeutics, we have devised h bioinformatics-based approaches to accelerate global efforts in the fight against SARS-CoV-2 and to assist researchers in the initial phase of vaccine and therapeutics development. In this study, we have performed comprehensive meta-analyses and developed an integrative resource, "CoronaVR" (http://bioinfo.imtech.res.in/manojk/coronavr/). Predominantly, we identified potential epitope-based vaccine candidates, siRNA-based therapeutic regimens, and diagnostic primers. The resource is categorized into the main sections "Genomes," "Epitopes," "Therapeutics," and Primers." The genome section harbors different components, viz, genomes, a genome browser, phylogenetic analysis, codon usage, glycosylation sites, and structural analysis. Under the umbrella of epitopes, sub-divisions, namely cross-protective epitopes, B-cell (linear/discontinuous), T-cell (CD4+/CD8+), CTL, and MHC binders, are presented. The therapeutics section has different sub-sections like siRNA, miRNAs, and sgRNAs. Further, experimentally confirmed and designed diagnostic primers are earmarked in the primers section. Our study provided a set of shortlisted B-cell and T-cell (CD4+ and CD8+) epitopes that can be experimentally tested for their incorporation in vaccine formulations. The list of selected primers can be used in testing kits to identify SARS-CoV-2, while the recommended siRNAs, sgRNAs, and miRNAs can be used in therapeutic regimens. We foresee that this resource will help in advancing the research against coronaviruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the antioxidant system and protect the nitrate reductase (NR) activity of two field pea genotypes (DDR 61 and HUDP 15) by seed hardening through optimum concentration salicylic acid (SA) @ 1.0 mM under salinity stress condition. Salinity was imposed by NaCl @ 50,100 and 150 mM with their corresponding EC 4.0, 8.2 and 10.6 dSm-1 respectively. Nitrate reductase (NR) activity significantly reduced under stress at the reproductive (i.e. post anthesis) stage but was maintained higher in 1.0 mM SA treated plants upto the level of 100 mM NaCl. In addition to NR, membrane stability index (MSI) also decreased significantly under salinity stress. In DDR 61 MSI was found to be more as compared to HUDP 15. On the other hand, activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) were up-regulated by salinity stress and further enhanced remarkably by 1.0 mM SA treatment. DDR 61 genotype was found to be more responsive to SA application as compared to HUDP 15. Salt stress was found to have more damaging effects during the pre-anthesis phase than the post-anthesis phase of development. Hence, results signify the role of SA in protecting NR metabolic activity along with regulating salinity response of plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]