Natural nanovesicles as a promising therapeutic strategy for radiation-induced organ injury

A serious and frequent complication of cancer radiotherapy is injury to vital organs, including the skin, lungs, heart, bone marrow, and intestines. Radiation injury involves complex mechanisms including oxidative stress, inflammatory cascades, tissue fibrosis, and cellular senescence. Current clinical approaches, such as advanced radiation techniques and pharmacological agents, often suffer from significant limitations, including inadequate protective effects, systemic side effects, and a general inability to effectively promote the regeneration of damaged tissues. In this context, natural nanovesicles have arisen as a novel and promising class of bio-derived therapeutics. These vesicles are derived from diverse sources such as mammalian cells, plants, and mammalian body fluids. They offer unique advantages for clinical translation, primarily due to their high biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and innate ability to cross biological barriers and target sites of injury. More importantly, they are natural carriers of bioactive molecules and have been shown in preclinical studies to modulate immune responses, reduce oxidative damage, inhibit fibrotic pathways, and actively stimulate tissue repair and regeneration. This article provides a comprehensive review of the application and potential of natural nanovesicles in the treatment of radiation-induced organ injury, and unveils the targeted molecular mechanisms.