Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Viral and Bacterial Infections: Pathogenesis, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), or exosomes, are nanovesicles of endocytic origin that carry host and pathogen-derived protein, nucleic acid, and lipid cargos. They are secreted by most cell types and play important roles in normal cell-to-cell communications but can also spread pathogen- and host-derived molecules during infections to alter immune responses and pathophysiological processes. New research is beginning to decipher how EVs influence viral and bacterial pathogenesis. In this review, we will describe how EVs influence viral and bacterial pathogenesis by spreading pathogen-derived factors and how they can promote and inhibit the immune response to these pathogens. We will also discuss the emerging potential of EVs as diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

Programmable Modulation for Extracellular Vesicles

“…They are widely distributed in blood, cerebral spinal and other bodily fluids. These novel signaling mediators carry bioactive molecules between cells (1), and studies suggest they have both physiological and potentially pathological roles in viral infection (2), cancer spread (3), autoimmunity (4) and neurodegenerative diseases (5). EVs transfer their protein, lipid and RNA cargo in both paracrine (to adjacent target cells) and endocrine manner (to distant target cells) (6).…”

Introductory Chapter: An Overview to the Extracellular Vesicles

“…The challenges are prolonging their circulating and improving targeting. The use of EVs as drug delivery systems is being studied for several disorders, including cancer, infectious diseases, brain disorders, liver diseases, and among others [34][35][36][37]. However, this field is still in the early stage of development with great potential for future applications, but also with big challenges to attempt [38].…”

“…Because EVs are secreted from almost all cells, they are found in various body fluids, making them easy to collect and analyze and playing a critical role in diagnosis of several conditions, such as cancer, Alzheimer's, epilepsy, and liver diseases [37,[39][40][41][42]. EVs participate in pathogenesis and can also be used as diagnosis or vaccines [33,35,43]. Last novel applications for EVs include using their signaling properties to repair injured muscle or use them as biomarkers for male infertility or pregnancy-related disorders [44][45][46].…”

Rapid Lipid-Based Approach for Normalization of Quantum-Dot-Detected Biomarker Expression on Extracellular Vesicles in Complex Biological Samples

“…However, their invasiveness, along with tumor sampling brings about challenges with studying tumor heterogeneity and evolution, making it an unlikely process for regular monitoring (Vaidyanathan, Soon et al 2019). vesicles / mL in blood, (Keller, Ridinger et al 2011, Lee, Fraser et al 2018, making EVs highly abundant and easily available biomarkers (Nuzhat, Kinhal et al 2017, Rajagopal and Harikumar 2018, Rodrigues, Fan et al 2018, van Niel, D'Angelo et al 2018. Critical information is stored in the molecular profile of the exosomal cargo and surface expression due to their endocytotic biogenesis from parent tumor cells making them favorable for studying tumor microenvironment (Kalluri 2016).…”