Figure 2.

Practical approach to develop EV biomimetics. The starting point is the choice of (A) a natural EV population with the desired characteristics and homing capabilities. (B) Lipidomic studies of natural EVs provide a reference composition, from which simplifications can be introduced. (C) These simplifications may consist in identifying the most abundant lipid components and excluding the less abundant ones, balancing the amount of the different lipid categories, while maintaining the correct ratios among the different types of fatty acids. In this way, artificial EV-mimicking liposomes can be produced and (D) loaded with a cargo (e.g., drugs, genetic materials, nanoparticles, proteins) through consolidated methods from literature. (E) The study of the biological mechanisms behind a specific tropism ability, can lead to the (F) identification of key molecules enabling homing attitude toward specific target cell receptor. (G) The decoration of the cargo-loaded, artificial EV-mimicking liposome with the designated proteins or peptides concludes the process to produce (H) fully artificial theranostic EV biomimetics. Created with BioRender.com.