Optimizing sustainable production of high-quality microalgae-derived extracellular vesicles through batch-refeed perfusion cultivation

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-based nanoparticles with strong potential as therapeutic nanocarriers, but their clinical use is limited by production and cost challenges, especially from human cells. Microalgae-derived EVs (i.e., nanoalgosomes) offer a sustainable and scalable alternative. In this study, we optimized nanoalgosome production by implementing batch-refeed systems that simulate perfusion conditions to improve microalgal viability by maintaining nutrient levels and reducing toxic metabolites. Compared to standard batch cultures, the batch-refeed strategy yielded ten-fold fewer particles but achieved 1.4-fold higher total EV protein yield, likely reflecting a reduction in non-EV co-isolates in favor of bona fide EVs. This is supported by the results of EV-associated luminal esterase activity and by the increase in membrane-enclosed EVs — detected by fluorescent nanoparticle tracking analysis — in batch-refeed–derived nanoalgosomes compared to standard batch cultures, which suggests that the batch-refeed strategy enhances their functional integrity, possibly by preserving vesicle membrane stability and reducing non-vesicular co-isolates. Furthermore, the batch-refeed strategy achieved a three-fold increase in space-time yield (STY) over conventional batch systems. Nanoalgosomes retained key functional properties post-harvest. In vitro assays confirmed that nanoalgosomes derived from both cultivation methods exhibited similar cytoprotective effects, reducing oxidative stress-induced damage in normal mammary epithelial 1–7 HB2 cells and in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. These findings support the use of microalgae-based perfusion-inspired systems as a green, cost-effective and scalable strategy for producing high-quality EVs for biomedical applications.