Online PhD conferral Ricardo Cerqueira de Abreu

Keywords: Extracellular vesicles; microRNA, regenerative medicine, biotechnology

"Extracellular Vesicles as Platforms for Therapeutic microRNA delivery"

This thesis studied extracellular vesicles, which are tiny, cell-derived particles. These vesicles have been used in research as tools for the treatment of multiple conditions. In this thesis, this notion was expanded by enriching the vesicles with higher-impact therapeutic molecules. In this case, the study focused on the use of microRNA, non-coding nucleic acids which can regulate cellular activity. Consequently, the vesicles were used as carriers for the microRNA, transporting them to cells of interest. This is of particular interest since many cells, tissues or organs are hard to reach and treat with currently available therapies. Ultimately, the study showed that, both in cellular and animal models, the combination of vesicles and microRNA was able to improve tissue regeneration, which may pave the way for new treatments to emerge.