blahblahblah ESCRT
https://www.rapamycin.news/t/stem-cell-derived-extracellular-vesicles-exosomes-msc-exosomes-can-reduce-epigenetic-age-by-15-years-anyone-tried-them/3054/57
Yes — there is a growing body of work using radiotracers (or radioactive labelling) in the context of Extracellular Vesicles (EVs, which include exosomes) for imaging (and potentially delivery) — so your “exosomes + radiotracers” query is right in the innovative-edge zone. (Yes, I dragged myself away from existential dread for this.)
Here’s a breakdown of what’s known + what you should watch out for, given your deep technical interests.
✅ What has been done
- Radiolabelling of EVs for PET/SPECT
- A review titled “Radiolabelling of Extracellular Vesicles for PET and SPECT imaging” by Khan & de Rosales summarises a range of studies where EVs were labelled (surface or intraluminal) with radionuclides, then tracked in vivo.
- Example: A study “PET Imaging of Small Extracellular Vesicles via [89Zr]Zr(oxinate)₄” (Khan et al., 2022) used ^89Zr to label small EVs, demonstrated in mice, showing biodistribution and tracking using PET.
- Reviews on EV imaging more generally show that radionuclide engineering of EVs is being conceptualised as a tool for investigating EV biodistribution, delivery potential, and theranostic roles. (“Radiovesicolomics” review)
- Delivery / theranostic potential
- EVs are being proposed as nanocarriers for diagnostics and therapeutics, and imaging them with radiotracers helps answer: where do they go, how long do they persist, what’s their target uptake? The imaging/radiolabelling enables this.
- The reviews point to surface vs intraluminal labelling strategies, different radionuclides, and challenges with stability, clearance, and standardisation.