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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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Bohn, O-S 2025, Danish listeners’ perception of Mandarin tones: Auditory training and error patterns. in Proceedings from Fonetik 2025. University of Stockholm, Stockholm, pp. 39-44, Fonetik 2025, Växjö, Sweden, 20/05/2025.
Haastrup, P, Møller, A, Kristensen, JK & Huibers, L 2025, 'Danish primary care: a focus on general practice in the Danish healthcare system', Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 839-845. https://doi.org/10.1080/02813432.2025.2508929
Thomsen, HM, Nielsen, RD, Sterup, J, Pedersen, CL, Bregnballe, T & Clausen, P 2025, 'Danish waterbird monitoring: Towards estimating total annual abundance from reduced site networks', Bird Numbers 2025: Synergies in monitoring for conservation. 23rd conference of the European Bird Census Council
, Riga, Latvia, 31/03/2025 - 04/04/2025.
Whitta-Jacobsen, HJ, Søndergaard, J, Svarer, M, Mogensen, P & Beck, U 2025, Danmark 2050: Fyrtårn eller fodnote? Kraka.
Wendel-Hansen, J 2025, Danmark and Iceland. in P Brandt, M Kirsch & A Schlegelmilch (eds), Handbook of European Constitutional History in the 19th Century: 1870-1914. vol. 4, Verlag J.H.W. Dietz Nachf. GmbH.
Olesen, NW, Bundgård Christensen, C, Lund, J & Sørensen, J 2025, Danmark besat: Krig og hverdag 1940-45. Informations Forlag, København.
Gade, C 2025, Danmarks Fængsler - genoprettende ret og straf. in IH Asmussen (ed.), Genoprettende Ret i Praksis. DJØF's forlag.
Laursen, LN, Markussen, T, Knutz, E, Vallgårda, A, Krogh, PG, Olander, S, Krogh Petersen, M, Brandt, E, Christensen, B, Vangkilde, KT & Waltorp, K 2025, 'Danmark står i en designkrise. Sådan løser vi den', Politiken, pp. 5-6.
Sterup, J & Bregnballe, T 2025, Danmarks ynglebestand af skarver i 2024. Teknisk rapport fra DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi, no. 328, vol. 2025, Aarhus University, DCE - Danish Centre for Environment and Energy. <https://dce.au.dk/fileadmin/dce.au.dk/Udgivelser/Tekniske_rapporter_300-349/TR328.pdf>
Sterup, J & Bregnballe, T 2025, Danmarks ynglebestand af skarver i 2025. Teknisk rapport fra DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi, no. 360, vol. 2025, Aarhus University, DCE - Danish Centre for Environment and Energy. <https://dce.au.dk/fileadmin/dce.au.dk/Udgivelser/Tekniske_rapporter_350-400/TR360.pdf>
Martinsen, LK & Rung, MH (eds) 2025, Danner af Danmark: Frihed, fremtid og folkestyre. Nord Academic /Gads Forlag.
Martinsen, LK & Mette Houlberg Rung 2025, Danner af Danmark: En national kamæleon. in LK Martinsen & MH Rung (eds), Danner af Danmark: Frihed, fremtid og folkestyre. Nord Academic /Gads Forlag, pp. 23-73.
Andersen, D & Skaaning, S-E 2025, Dansk demokrati i perspektiv. Aarhus Universitetsforlag, Aarhus.
Basse, EM & Uhre Jørgensen, C, "Dansk miljø- og klimalovgivning spænder ben for egentlig beskyttelse", 2025, Pictures, Video and sound recordings (digital), Karnov Group Danmark A/S, København.
Larsen, SE 2025, Dansk VandPlante Indeks (DVPI): udvikling, anvendelse og begrænsninger . Fagligt notat fra DCE – Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi (2020-...), no. 32, vol. 2025, vol. 32/2025, Aarhus University, DCE - Danish Centre for Environment and Energy. <https://dce.au.dk/fileadmin/dce.au.dk/Udgivelser/Notater_2025/N2025_32.pdf>
Pade, M & Ramminger, J 2025, Dante, a Versatile Latin Writer. in P Vaciago, S Irvine & R Bianchin (eds), ἀγλαὰ δῶρα: Studi miscellanei in onore di Dora Faraci. Roma Tre-Press, Rom, pp. 725-737. <https://romatrepress.uniroma3.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/42.-Marianne-Pade-Johann-Ramminger.pdf>
Hallerstede, S, Robby & Hatcliff, J 2025, Danvy’s Mystery Functions in Slang. in F Henglein, J Lawall, J Palsberg & S Ilya (eds), OLIVIERFEST 2025 - Proceedings of the Workshop Dedicated to Olivier Danvy on the Occasion of His 64th Birthday. Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 14-25, 2025 Workshop Dedicated to Olivier Danvy on the Occasion of His 64th Birthday, OLIVIERFEST 2025, Singapore, Singapore, 12/10/2025. https://doi.org/10.1145/3759427.3760363
Forslind, S, Leishman, EM, Hernandez, CE, Riber, AB, Wall, H, Wattrang, E & Blokhuis, HJ 2025, 'Dark brooders during rearing affect fearfulness but not production parameters of broiler chickens', Poultry Science, vol. 104, no. 11, 105682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2025.105682
Sun, L, Landau, AM, Tang, J & Roivainen, A 2025, 'Dark seasons enhance brain and brown adipose tissue interactions related to mu-opioid receptor signaling', European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, vol. 52, no. 10, pp. 3534-3539. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-025-07272-5
Musaeus, P 2025, Darstellungsregeln in der interprofessionellen Patientenversorgung. in U Walkenhorst & MR Fischer (eds), Interprofessionelle Bildung für die Gesundheits versorgung.. Springer, Berlin, pp. 255-261. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65435-4_37
Kesting, P, Smolinski, R & Lipp, W 2025, 'Das erste Angebot in Vertragsverhandlungen: Ankerwirkung und strategische Implikationen', Zeitschrift für Konfliktmanagement, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 131-135. https://doi.org/10.9785/zkm-2025-280404
Borowski, M, Butcher, PWS, Kristensen, JB, Petersen, JO, Ritsos, PD, Klokmose, CN & Elmqvist, N 2025, 'DashSpace: A Live Collaborative Platform for Immersive and Ubiquitous Analytics', IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 31, no. 10, pp. 7034-7047. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2025.3537679
Larsen, BR, Da staten flyttede på landet, 2025, Pictures, Video and sound recordings (digital), Aarhus Universitetsforlag, Aarhus Universitetsforlag . <https://unipress.dk/udgivelser/v/vejen-til-nakskovs-hjerte/>
Andersen, J & Kyng, M 2025, 'Data-Based Eco-Systems for Health and Care At Home – How May Assistive Technology Contribute?', AAATE 2025
Technology for Inclusion and Participation for All: Recent Achievements and Future Directions, Nicosia, Cyprus, 10/09/2025 - 12/09/2025 pp. 137-139. <https://aaate2025.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2025/09/Short_Papers_Collection_Volume_final.pdf>
Motzfeldt, HM & Næser, J 2025, Databeskyttelsesforordningens - og lovens anvendelsesområder. in Almindelig databeskyttelsesret . 2 edn, Djøf Forlag, Kbh., pp. 55-92.
Næser, J & Motzfeldt, HM 2025, Databeskyttelsesretligt behandlingsgrundlag og behandlingsbetingelser. in Almindelig databeskyttelsesret . 2 edn, Djøf Forlag, Kbh., pp. 165-238.
Næser, J & Motzfeldt, HM 2025, Databeskyttelsesretten. in Almindelig databeskyttelsesret . 2 edn, Djøf Forlag, Kbh., pp. 13-26.
Motzfeldt, HM & Næser, J 2025, Databeskyttelsesrettens retskilder. in Almindelig databeskyttelsesret . 2 edn, Djøf Forlag, Kbh., pp. 27-54.
Sarabakha, A 2025, Data-Driven Identification of Observed Relative Degrees for Nonlinear Systems. in 2025 European Control Conference, ECC 2025. 2025 edn, IEEE, European Control Conference (ECC), vol. 2025, pp. 813-818, 2025 European Control Conference, ECC 2025, Thessaloniki, Greece, 24/06/2025. https://doi.org/10.23919/ECC65951.2025.11187272
Pernov, JB, Aeberhard, WH, Volpi, M, Harris, E, Hohermuth, B, Ishino, S, Skeie, RB, Henne, S, Im, U, Quinn, PK, Upchurch, LM & Schmale, J 2025, 'Data-driven modeling of environmental factors influencing Arctic methanesulfonic acid aerosol concentrations', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 25, no. 12, pp. 6497-6537. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6497-2025
Gheisarnejad, M, Fathollahi, A, Sharifzadeh, M, Laurendeau, E & Al-Haddad, K 2025, 'Data-Driven Switching Control Technique Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning for Packed E-Cell as Smart EV Charger', IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 3194-3203. https://doi.org/10.1109/TTE.2024.3435763
Nichols, V, Carter, A, Gailans, S, Basche, A & Weisberger, D 2025, 'Data Feminism as a guide for agricultural research', npj Sustainable Agriculture, vol. 3, no. 1, 46. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-025-00086-w
Martin, A, Liu, J, Paudel, S, Jensen, RH, Smith, RC, Bardzell, S, Soden, R & Lin, CK 2025, Datafication of Climate Change: From Prediction to Participation. in Adjunct proceedings of the sixth decennial Aarhus conference: Computing X Crisis (AAR Adjunct 2025)., 31, Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 1-4, 6th Decennial Aarhus Conference on Computing X Crisis, AAR 2025, Aarhus, Denmark, 18/08/2025. https://doi.org/10.1145/3737609.3747099
Hansen, KM, Cecchini, M & Andersen, LB 2025, Datakilder. in KM Hansen, LB Andersen & M Cecchini (eds), Metoder i statskundskab. 4 edn, Hans Reitzels Forlag, København, pp. 141-160.