Abstract
Extracellular vesicles are membrane-bound nanoparticles secreted by cells which play a well-known role in cell to cell communication. The most update to date nomenclature categorizes extracellular vesicles based on their relative size, protein markers, and/or the cell type of origin. Extracellular vesicles can be isolated from biological fluids using a variety of methods, including but not limited to, ultrafiltration, size-exclusion chromatography, differential ultracentrifugation, density gradient centrifugation, precipitation-based methods, and immunoaffinity capture. These nanovesicles carry distinct “cargo,” made up of biomolecules such as nucleic acids, lipids, and protein, which is delivered to nearby target cells. The “cargo” profile carried by extracellular vesicles is critical in their role of communication and resembles the physiological status of the cell they originated from. For the purpose of this review, we will focus on the miRNA cargo. Extracellular vesicle-miRNA profiles hold the potential to be used in diagnostic panels for a variety of diseases through a novel method known as “liquid biopsy.” In addition to this, extracellular vesicles may serve as a potential method to deliver drugs to specific cells within the body. This mini-review provides background into what extracellular vesicles are, methods of isolating these nanoparticles, their potential use as a biomarker and drug delivery system for precision medicine, and a summary of the current literature covering the role of some extracellular vesicle-cargo's in various pulmonary diseases.
Highlights
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived, membrane-bound nanoparticles which are secreted by most cell types and play a known role in cell to cell crosstalk [1,2,3]
Extracellular VesiclesExtracellular vesicles (EVs) contain and transport a variety of “cargo” including lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids [1]. Based on their physical sizes, biogenesis, and surface markers, EVs were previously classified into three main categories, namely the apoptotic bodies (ABs), microvesicles (MVs) and exosomes (Figure 1)
bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) collection from patients is an overly invasive method to diagnose asthma, this study proved EVmiRNA profiling can be used diagnostically in the disease
Summary
Biology of Extracellular VesiclesExtracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived, membrane-bound nanoparticles which are secreted by most cell types and play a known role in cell to cell crosstalk [1,2,3]. Further analysis of these EVs may show the protein markers expressed on these exosomes come from type II lung epithelial cells, narrowing down the list of possible illnesses and directing the clinician to a possible diagnosis.
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