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Exosomes

Exosomes are small membrane vesicles of endocytic origin secreted by most cell types in vitro. Cells continuously secrete a large number of microvesicles, exosomes and small molecules into the extracellular space. Exosomes have been shown to contain mRNA and miRNA and they are able to mediate communication between cells, by transport of RNA and proteins which can be functionalized in the recipient cell. The ability to transport bioactive cargoes, gives exosomes innate therapeutic potential as a natural drug carrier. Efficient techniques for loading drugs into exosomes to utilize the natural carrier capabilities of these vesicles remains to be elucidated.

Applications of Exosomes

The presence exosomes in blood, saliva, and urine paves the way for the possible application of exosomes as a diagnostic marker for diseases. Many diseases are difficult to detect by the methods and equipment available today and there is a growing demand for development of new non‐invasive methods to detect diseases in early stages. The use of exosomes as markers of disease is being investigated to cement their potential as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for early detection of many diseases, in particular cancers. This, however, relies on thorough characterisation of exosomes in both healthy and diseased states

An important factor to understanding the roles of exosomes is knowledge of their biodistribution. Currently, the number of publications describing the biodistribution of exosomes is limited. The main reason being the lack of a robust fluorescent label that can be visualised in vivo. Mapping the specific cell type derived exosomes can increase our knowledge on the roles of exosomes in the organism, as well as help to identify natural targeting systems.

Isolation, Characterisation and Fluorescent Labelling

The most common isolation protocol uses a differential centrifugation to fractionate cells, microvesicles, and exosomes, which are pelleted by ultracentrifugation. After vesicles are secreted from cells into the extracellular environment, it difficult to separate the different subpopulations of vesicles to obtain a pure sample. We have developed methods to optimise isolation and thorough characterisation procedures to obtain pure and well-characterised exosomes. Furthermore, we have developed a simple method for labelling of exosomes with a robust fluorescent label that can be visualised in vivo, allowing investigation of the biodistribution of different cell derived exosomes.

Collaborators:

Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark

Dan Peer, Department of Cell Research & Immunology, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Moein Moghimi, school of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health, Durham University, UK

Recent Publications

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Christensen, LM, Kristensen, DT, Dybkær, K, Grønbæk, K, El-Galaly, TC, Ettrup, MS, Jensen, JF, Ommen, HB, Sørensen, ALT, Hansen, DL, Brøndum, RF & Severinsen, MT 2026, 'Epidemiology and characteristics of validated mixed phenotype acute leukaemia: A comprehensive nationwide Danish cohort study', British Journal of Haematology, vol. 208, no. 1, pp. 353-357. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.70235, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.70235
Jørgensen, HJ & Nguyen, MH 2026, Er der et der? På sporet af den danske situativkonstruktions oprindelse. in H Lönnroth (ed.), I sällskap av medeltida texter: Studier i østnordisk filologi., 7, Syddansk Universitetsforlag, København & Odense, Studier i østnordisk filologi, vol. 6, pp. 105-124. <https://ostnordiskfilologi.wordpress.com/skriftserie/2024-2/>
Farschtschi, SC, Kumps, C, Milagre, TH, Makrythanasis, P, Van Tongerloo, A, Denayer, E, van Kouwen, M, Carrasco López, E, Berghoff, AS, Testa, S, Cesaretti, C, Trevisson, E, d’ Oliveira, R, Fianchi, F, Röhl, C, Salinas-Chaparro, D, Slegers, I, Geilswijk, M, Suerink, M, Spinelli, I, Janssens, S, Pugh, S & Sønderberg Roos, LK 2026, 'ERN GENTURIS guideline on counselling on reproductive options for individuals with a cancer predisposition syndrome (including genturis)', European Journal of Human Genetics. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41431-025-02007-4
Schrage, B, Beske, RP, Hassager, C, Jensen, LO, Eiskjær, H, Mangner, N, Polzin, A, Schulze, PC, Skurk, C, Nordbeck, P, Panoulas, V, Zimmer, S, Schäfer, A, Werner, N, Engstrøm, T, Holmvang, L, Junker Udesen, NL, Schmidt, H, Junker, A, Terkelsen, CJ, Christensen, S, Linke, A, Westermann, D, Clemmesen, P & Møller, JE 2026, 'Escalation of Mechanical Circulatory Support in Patients with STEMI-related Cardiogenic Shock: A post-hoc Analysis of the DanGer Shock Trial', European heart journal. Acute cardiovascular care. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjacc/zuag015
van Aken, ESM, O'Cathail, SM, Gandhi, AK, Bussink, J, Castelo-Branco, L, Eriksen, JG, Argilés, G, Hiley, CT, Atkinson, V, Kaźmierska, J, Calles, A, Konopa, K, Le Rhun, E, McDonald, F, Mountzios, G, Putora, PM, Muoio, B, Ricardi, U, Westphalen, CB, Wrona, A, Boot, P, Pentheroudakis, G, Belka, C, Lordick, F, Marijnen, CAM, Martins-Branco, D, De Ruysscher, D, Barriuso, J, Devnani, B, de Jong, MC & Prelaj, A 2026, 'ESMO-ESTRO consensus statements on the safety of combining radiotherapy with EGFR, ALK, or BRAF/MEK inhibitors', ESMO Open, vol. 11, no. 3, 106076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esmoop.2026.106076
Abdallah, MF, Ladeira, L, Pôbiš, P, Stucki, AO, Tan, BX, Maisonneuve, B, Roper, C & Kanďárová, H 2026, 'ESTIV early career network: A growing initiative to support the next generation of NAMs-oriented toxicologists', Toxicology in Vitro, vol. 113, 106216, pp. 106216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tiv.2026.106216
Tanderup, K, Kirby, AM, Eriksen, JG, Jornet, N, Bertholet, J, Gasparotto, C, Aznar, MC, Boldrini, L, Borgmann, K, Clark, CH, Forde, E, Jereczek-Fossa, BA, van der Heide, UA, Hurkmans, C, Meattini, I, Ost, P, Troost, EGC, Cortese, A & Guckenberger, M 2026, 'ESTRO's principles for environmental sustainability in the radiation oncology community', Radiotherapy and Oncology, vol. 217, 111384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radonc.2026.111384
Hounsvad, PR, Kaas, MH & Søgaard, R 2026, 'Et grotesk næb!', Fund & Fortid, no. 1.
Andersen, JV 2026, Ethereum. in R Beck & CB Slade (eds), Elgar Encyclopedia of Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain and DLT. Edward Elgar Publishing. <https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/elgar-encyclopedia-of-cryptocurrencies-blockchain-and-dlt-9781035339952.html>
Öz, G, Dindler, C, Krogh, PG & Lindberg, S 2026, Ethical Encounters in Design Practice: A Framework Grounded in Practitioner Experience. in Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26). Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , New York, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.1145/XXXXXXX.XXXXXXX
Peters, D, Hollanek, T, Ahmadpour, N, Calvo, RA, Chivukula, SS, Dindler, C, Gray, CM, Lazem, S, Öz, G & Piet, N 2026, Ethics at the Front-End: Responsible User-Facing Design for AI Systems. in Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '26). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA.
Farver, CW 2026, 'Et væv af rødglitrende tråde', Litteraturmagasinet Standart, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 6-8.
Andersen, MM, Wagner, S, Folker, AP, Varga, S & Schou-Juul, F 2026, Et videnskabsteoretisk blik på stigmaforskning. in Stigma.
Le Roux, E, Stochholm, K, Fassnacht, M, Coyne, I, Touraine, P, Alexandraki, KI, Wasniewska, M, Van Eck, JP, Di Guisto, V, Helm, A, Valassi, E, Marlier, J, Cools, M, Hamza, RT, Aversa, T, Isidori, AM, Juul, A, Verroken, C, Ornstrup, MJ, Zabuliene, L, Davidse, K, Cianfarani, S & Neggers, SJCMM 2026, 'European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) and European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) joint clinical practice guidance for healthcare transition from paediatric to adult endocrine care', European Journal of Endocrinology, vol. 194, no. 2, pp. G1-G10. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejendo/lvag020
Plauborg, H, Assunção Flores, M, Lunde Frederiksen, L & Symeonidis , V 2026, European studies on teacher induction and mentoring: a literature review. in Making Sense of European Teacher Induction and Mentoring Practices. Brill, Key Issues in Teacher Education: Policy, Research and Practice, vol. 5.
Duarte, G, Peponi, A, Faro, A, Leite, T, Segurado, P, Borgwardt, F, Baattrup-Pedersen, A, Birk, S, Ferreira, T & Branco, P 2026, 'Europe's Ecological Debt: Mapping Freshwater Restoration Needs', Global change biology, vol. 32, no. 3, e70778. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70778
Duan, Z, Gao, W, Kong, X, MacIsaac, HJ, Jeppesen, E, Hilt, S, Hamilton, DP, Wilhelm, SW, McKay, RM, Zhang, Y, Qin, B, Liu, Y, Wang, H, Pan, M, Xia, T, Wu, F, W Paerl, H & Chang, X 2026, 'Eutrophic Lake Restoration Requires Multidimensional Approaches to Stressor Management', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 3170-3185. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c11422
Li, M, Holgersen, K, Nielsen, SDH, Le, APV, Jiang, P, Morawska, LP, Bjørnshave, A, Bering, SB, Poulsen, NA, Sangild, PT & Larsen, LB 2026, 'Evaluating casein ingredients in infant formula using pigs as a model for sensitive newborn infants', Food and Function, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 876-888. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5fo03498a
Friismose, AI, Aunan-Diop, JS, Pedersen, M, Dahlrot, RH, Harbo, FSG, Jensen, J, Ehman, RL, Huston, J, Hojo, E, Poulsen, FR, Graumann, O & Mussmann, B 2026, 'Evaluating Measurement Stability in Glioblastomas Using Magnetic Resonance Elastography: Repeatability and Interobserver Agreement', Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 774-782. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.70145
Pistollato, F, Furtmann, F, Straccia, M, Avey, M, Azilagbetor, DM, Camp, C, Delaney, C, Ferreira, GS, Garcia-Bermejo, ML, Gastaldello, A, Gurusamy, K, Holden, L, Kimmelman, J, Lohse, S, Marigliani, B, Menon, JML, Ritskes-Hoitinga, M, Sarasija, S, Tagle, D, Tripodi, IJ, Turner, J, Wehling, M & Costantino, H 2026, 'Evaluating the translational value of preclinical models: Available tools and frameworks, challenges and strategies', Alternatives to Laboratory Animals, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 10-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/02611929251398821