Abstract
Despite significant efforts made to treat cardiovascular disease (CVD), more than half of cardiovascular events still occur in asymptomatic subjects devoid of traditional risk factors. These observations underscore the need for the identification of new biomarkers for the prevention of atherosclerosis, the main underlying cause of CVD. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) and lymphatic vessel function are emerging targets in this context. EVs are small vesicles released by cells upon activation or death that are present in several biological tissues and fluids, including blood and lymph. They interact with surrounding cells to transfer their cargo, and the complexity of their biological content makes these EVs potential key players in several chronic inflammatory settings. Many studies focused on the interaction of EVs with the most well-known players of atherosclerosis such as the vascular endothelium, smooth muscle cells and monocytes. However, the fate of EVs within the lymphatic network, a crucial route in the mobilization of cholesterol out the artery wall, is not known. In this review, we aim to bring forward evidence that EVs could be at the interplay between lymphatic function and atherosclerosis by summarizing the recent findings on the characterization of EVs in this setting.
Highlights
In the 1620s, two important networks of vessels were discovered: the blood and the lymphatic circulation (Suy et al, 2016)
Whereas the exact mechanisms responsible for the prompt defect in lymphatic function observed prior to the atherosclerosis plaque onset remain to be elucidated, these findings strongly suggest that targeting lymphatic function in patients at risk of developing coronary artery disease (CAD) may constitute a novel therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are classified according to their size and mechanism of formation, and it is possible to distinguish these diverse released populations: exosomes, exocytosed from multivesicular bodies; microvesicles (MVs) that bud directly from the plasma membrane; and apoptotic bodies which result from apoptotic blebbing following cell death (Raposo and Stoorvogel, 2013)
Summary
Edited by: Vincenza Cifarelli, Washington University in St. Louis, United States. Reviewed by: Janusz Rak, McGill University, Canada Sathish Srinivasan, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, United States. Despite significant efforts made to treat cardiovascular disease (CVD), more than half of cardiovascular events still occur in asymptomatic subjects devoid of traditional risk factors These observations underscore the need for the identification of new biomarkers for the prevention of atherosclerosis, the main underlying cause of CVD. EVs are small vesicles released by cells upon activation or death that are present in several biological tissues and fluids, including blood and lymph. They interact with surrounding cells to transfer their cargo, and the complexity of their biological content makes these EVs potential key players in several chronic inflammatory settings.
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