Extracellular Vesicles: Masters of Intercellular Communication and Potential Clinical Interventions

Overview

Journal J Clin Invest

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2016 Apr 2

PMID 27035805

Citations 263

Authors

Jonathan M Pitt

Guido Kroemer

Laurence Zitvogel

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Intercellular signaling via extracellular vesicles (EVs) is an underappreciated modality of cell-cell crosstalk that enables cells to convey packages of complex instructions to specific recipient cells. EVs transmit these instructions through their cargoes of multiple proteins, nucleic acids, and specialized lipids, which are derived from their cells of origin and allow for combinatorial effects upon recipient cells. This Review series brings together the recent progress in our understanding of EV signaling in physiological and pathophysiological conditions, highlighting how certain EVs, particularly exosomes, can promote or regulate infections, host immune responses, development, and various diseases - notably cancer. Given the diverse nature of EVs and their abilities to profoundly modulate host cells, this series puts particular emphasis on the clinical applications of EVs as therapeutics and as diagnostic biomarkers.

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