The Biological Function of Extracellular Vesicles during Fertilization, Early Embryo-Maternal Crosstalk and Their Involvement in Reproduction: Review and Overview.

Emanuele Capra,Anna Lange-Consiglio

doi:10.3390/biom10111510

Abstract

Secretory extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-enclosed microparticles that mediate cell to cell communication in proximity to, or distant from, the cell of origin. Cells release a heterogeneous spectrum of EVs depending on their physiologic and metabolic state. Extracellular vesicles are generally classified as either exosomes or microvesicles depending on their size and biogenesis. Extracellular vesicles mediate temporal and spatial interaction during many events in sexual reproduction and supporting embryo-maternal dialogue. Although many omic technologies provide detailed understanding of the molecular cargo of EVs, the difficulty in obtaining populations of homogeneous EVs makes difficult to interpret the molecular profile of the molecules derived from a miscellaneous EV population. Notwithstanding, molecular characterization of EVs isolated in physiological and pathological conditions may increase our understanding of reproductive and obstetric diseases and assist the search for potential non-invasive biomarkers. Moreover, a more precise vision of the cocktail of biomolecules inside the EVs mediating communication between the embryo and mother could provide new insights to optimize the therapeutic action and safety of EV use.

Highlights

In mammals, the female reproductive trait, comprising ovaries, oviducts and uterus, plays a crucial role in the regulation of early and late reproductive events and provides the optimal environment for embryonic development
It has been largely demonstrated that extracellular vesicles (EVs)-associated activity is fundamental to reproductive success, mediating the fine-tuning of cellular cross-talk in the reproductive system, promoting embryo implantation and assisting successful pregnancy [1]
Endometrial derived EVs contain specific miRNA that may contribute to the endometrial-embryo cross talk and embryo implantation

Summary

Introduction

The female reproductive trait, comprising ovaries, oviducts and uterus, plays a crucial role in the regulation of early and late reproductive events and provides the optimal environment for embryonic development. Many recent reviews highlight the role of EVs in oogenesis, oocyte maturation and fertilization, embryo-maternal cross talk in the oviduct and embryo implantation [1,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. The recent knowledge on maternal-fetal communication, with special reference to the role of EVs during early interaction between embryonic and maternal tissues are reviewed. We examine the key role of EVs in early reproductive events and embryo-maternal cross talk, focusing on the molecular cargo of the EVs that transmits messages to different compartments of the reproductive tract and are involved in embryo-maternal cross-talk. We analyze EVs and their cargo for potential novel diagnostic and therapeutic applications in animal and human reproductive medicine (Figure 1)

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Results

Conclusion