Ingredient Deep-Dive: Exosomes

Whether it's from social media, your facialist or an article, you may have heard about exosomes as one of the latest skincare innovations... and then immediately wondered, "Wait, what? What exactly are exosomes?" We're here to break it down for you.

What are exosomes? 

Exosomes are nano-sized, naturally-occurring vesicles – think small, sac-like structures – that are responsible for cell-to-cell communication. Pro note: exosomes are typically ~30-150 nanometers, smaller than a skin cell.

Where do they come from – and where can they be found?

Exosomes are released by almost all types of living cells, including plant, animal and human cells and can be found in biological fluid. For example, in humans, they are secreted by skin cells, immune cells, stem cells, etc. and can be found in our blood, saliva, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, breast milk, etc. In plants, as another example, they can be found in cytosolic fluid, which is inside the cell cytoplasm, and in apoplastic fluid, which is the fluid between plant cells. To summarize, exosomes are naturally secreted by living cells and can be found throughout biological fluid.

Exosomes that are used in skincare can be human stem-cell derived, animal-derived, plant-derived, and microbial-derived. They can be extracted from natural sources or lab-made sources – for example, they can be derived from a centella asiatica plant or from a callus culture. (A callus culture is a plant tissue culture that is undifferentiated, meaning, it is not the plant's leaf, stem or root.)

Our Peach & Lily MiniProtein Exosome Bioactive Ampoule, like all Peach & Lily products, is vegan, and features Centella Asiatica-derived plant exosomes.

How do exosomes work? 

To understand this, it's helpful to picture what an exosome looks like.
First, the outside of the exosome has a phospholipid bilayer membrane – simply put, a double-layered sheet of fat molecules. There is a hydrophilic (water-loving) head that faces outwards, which naturally makes sense since exosomes exist in extracellular fluid that is a water-based environment. Then there are hydrophobic (water-avoiding) tails that face inward, towards the exosome, that forms the inner layer of the membrane. This structure helps protect the exosome and allows for certain molecules to pass in and out of the surface in a selective way.

Embedded in this phospholipid bilayer membrane are surface proteins (tetraspanins like CD9, CD63, CD81, and integrins) and other adhesion molecules. Think of exosomes as delivery trucks and surface proteins as mailing addresses – the surface proteins will guide exosomes to their intended destination. For example, certain types of proteins may bind to skin fibroblasts vs immune cells. What is even more fascinating is that some of these surface proteins may signal the target cell even before the delivery truck reaches it to prepare the target cell for uptake of the exosome. Once docked, exosomes can fuse with the target cell membrane or be engulfed by the target cell.

So, we now know how exosomes will go from cell to cell – through surface proteins that have specific mailing addresses that guide the exosomes accordingly.

Now, once the exosome reaches its destination, how does the communication happen? This part is all about what's inside the exosome. Exosomes, the delivery trucks, carry cargo: proteins/peptides, lipids, miRNAs, mRNAs, other RNAs, enzymes, and more. The cargo inside the exosomes carry highly specific instructions and do the signaling. Not all cargo is created alike and depending on the specific cargo, a particular exosome may signal a boost of collagen while another might signal signs to repair.

To summarize, think of exosomes as delivery trucks that carry cargo with specific instructions from cell to cell.

Do exosomes derived from a specific plant deliver the same benefit as the plant extract itself?

No. It's helpful to think of the plant itself and the exosomes from the plant as two different things. For example, centella asiatica extract is celebrated for providing soothing, barrier-supportive benefits or skin. Meanwhile, exosomes derived from centella asiatica contain cargo that focus more on visibly firming skin vs. soothing skin.

Pro tip: in skincare, there is something called an INCI, the International Nomenclature for Cosmetic Ingredients, which is a globally standardized naming system for cosmetic ingredients. Exosomes have not been granted their own designated INCI currently, so centella asiatica exosomes will show up simply as "centella asiatica extract" on an ingredient list.
But, now you know that if the centella asiatica exosome is highlighted as a key ingredient in the formula, you can expect visibly firming benefits vs. soothing benefits.

Now, for the fun part – how do the Centella Asiatica exosomes in our MiniProtein Exosome Bioactive Ampoule benefit you? 

To answer this, we're going to dive into how our Centella Asiatica exosomes are a cut above as not all centella exosomes are created alike. We went through an exhaustive process to vet and source a truly differentiated exosome for you – because your skin deserves the best.

First, our Centella Asiatica exosome preserves and optimizes richness.

What does this mean? Our exosomes are derived from the whole centella asiatica plant, a complete plant with full metabolic maturity – and not from a callus culture aka as an immature, lab grown, undifferentiated plant tissue. Our exosomes are optimized to preserve biointelligence with a much richer spectrum of the plant's native proteins and signaling molecules. Essentially, exosomes derived from the full plant dramatically change the cargo payload and signaling molecules inside the exosome.* Furthermore, our exosomes are derived from centella asiatica grown on a smart farm to optimize consistency and quality of the actual plant.

Second, high-tech patented methods are used to extract and stabilize our exosomes to maximize efficacy.

While exosomes are naturally encapsulated, the tiny vesicles are still fragile. A unique ultra-high-pressure process and aqueous two-phase partitioning system is used to preserve the exosomes' membrane integrity and to optimize for high particle concentration.

Once the exosome is extracted, the ingredient is stabilized with calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) that provides a pH buffer to minimize pH fluctuations that could damage the exosome membrane, while also aiding in a timed-release of the exosome when applied to skin. A biocompatible matrix is also used to create a protective layer around the exosome that also minimize exosomes from clumping together for enhanced dispersibility and stability when included in skincare.

In short, these proprietary methods maximize our exosome quality and efficacy.

Finally, our exosomes undergo a unique and rigorous quality assurance process. Many exosomes that are used in skincare are vetted through protein marker checks. This simply checks for the presence of exosomes. Our exosomes are mapped against a proprietary miRNA database where the check is not just about the presence of exosomes, but the actual function and quality of the exosome. What does this mean for you? The exosomes in our formula have been vetted and quality-checked in a rigorous way to optimize for performance.

What do you get out of all of this?

10 million+ of our high-quality centella asiatica exosomes are in every bottle of our MiniProtein Exosome Bioactive Ampoule. Our centella asiatica exosomes are one of three powerhouses that comprise our proprietary MicroMimic Tri-Signal Concentrate™. We stacked our ampoule with potent, cutting-edge ingredients inspired by Korean in-office treatment results. We then tested the formula extensively for clinically proven results you can trust. What you can expect is a profound way to visibly prevent and reverse 12 visual signs of aging.

Stay tuned for a deep-dive into our other two MicroMimic Tri-Signal Concentrate™ powerhouses! Peaches, if you have any questions or thoughts, leave them below. We're here for you!

*Cho et al., Int J Mol Sci, 2023; 24(21):15867.