Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are composed of a lipid bilayer containing transmembrane and soluble proteins. Subtypes of EVs include ectosomes (microparticles/microvesicles), exosomes, and apoptotic bodies that can be released by various tissues into biological fluids. EV cargo can modulate physiological and pathological processes in recipient cells through near- and long-distance intercellular communication. Recent studies have shown that origin, amount, and internal cargos (nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids) of EVs are variable under different pathological conditions, including cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The early detection and management of CVD reduce premature morbidity and mortality. Circulating EVs have attracted great interest as a potential biomarker for diagnostics and follow-up of CVD. This review highlights the role of circulating EVs as biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic follow-up of CVD, and also for drug delivery. Despite the great potential of EVs as a tool to study the pathophysiology of CVD, further studies are needed to increase the spectrum of EV-associated applications.
Highlights
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) is a generic term for particles naturally released from the cells that are delimited by a lipid bilayer-containing transmembrane and soluble proteins and cannot replicate, according to The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) [1]
Cardiomyocyte-derived EVs secreted from primary cardiomyocytes and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes can have angiogenic effects after myocardial infarction through inducing increase expression of miRNAs and proteins, such as growth factors [61,62], inducing cardiac fibrosis by release of specific miRNAs via myocyte-fibroblast cross-talk [63]
Circulating EVs were discussed as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic monitoring in cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and their risk factors such as metabolic diseases
Summary
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) is a generic term for particles naturally released from the cells that are delimited by a lipid bilayer-containing transmembrane and soluble proteins and cannot replicate, according to The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) [1]. EVs can be classified based on cell origin as ectosomes (microparticles/microvesicles), exosomes, and apoptotic bodies. Microvesicles have content similar to exosomes that include specific proteins, such as integrins, glycoproteins, and metalloproteinases [8,10]. EVs have a metabolically active outer membrane that protects their content until released into recipient cells [17]. EVs offer a non-invasive access to monitor the status of the cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and the use of circulating EVs as diagnostic biomarkers [13,20]. This review discusses the role of circulating EVs in CVD based on origin, amount, and content of the EVs, and highlights their application as biomarkers and drug delivery tool in several cardiovascular pathologies
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