Nebulized Engineered Exosomes Suppressing Ferroptosis Ease PM2.5-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice
A team led by Zhang Rong and Bao Lei at Hebei Medical University published a study in Redox Biology describing engineered exosomes encapsulating miR-218-5p and modified with the iRGD targeting peptide, which significantly alleviated PM2.5-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice when delivered by inhalation. In vitro experiments showed that exosomes secreted by PM2.5-exposed macrophages induced ferroptosis in epithelial cells, driving epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and targeted inhibition of HO-1 reversed this phenotype.
Why it matters: It demonstrates an inhaled engineered exosome strategy for delivering miRNA to inhibit ferroptosis, suggesting a potential therapy for environmentally induced pulmonary fibrosis.