Department of Clinical Chemistry, Academic Medical Centre of the University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Pharmacol Rev. 2012 Jul;64(3):676-705. doi: 10.1124/pr.112.005983. Epub 2012 Jun 21.
Both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells release small, phospholipid-enclosed vesicles into their environment. Why do cells release vesicles? Initial studies showed that eukaryotic vesicles are used to remove obsolete cellular molecules. Although this release of vesicles is beneficial to the cell, the vesicles can also be a danger to their environment, for instance in blood, where vesicles can provide a surface supporting coagulation. Evidence is accumulating that vesicles are cargo containers used by eukaryotic cells to exchange biomolecules as transmembrane receptors and genetic information. Because also bacteria communicate to each other via extracellular vesicles, the intercellular communication via extracellular cargo carriers seems to be conserved throughout evolution, and therefore vesicles are likely to be a highly efficient, robust, and economic manner of exchanging information between cells. Furthermore, vesicles protect cells from accumulation of waste or drugs, they contribute to physiology and pathology, and they have a myriad of potential clinical applications, ranging from biomarkers to anticancer therapy. Because vesicles may pass the blood-brain barrier, they can perhaps even be considered naturally occurring liposomes. Unfortunately, pathways of vesicle release and vesicles themselves are also being used by tumors and infectious diseases to facilitate spreading, and to escape from immune surveillance. In this review, the different types, nomenclature, functions, and clinical relevance of vesicles will be discussed.
真核细胞和原核细胞都会向其环境中释放小型的磷脂双层囊泡。细胞为什么要释放囊泡呢？最初的研究表明，真核囊泡用于清除废弃的细胞分子。虽然这种囊泡的释放对细胞有益，但这些囊泡也可能对其环境构成威胁，例如在血液中，囊泡可以提供支持凝血的表面。有证据表明，囊泡是真核细胞用于交换生物分子的货物容器，如跨膜受体和遗传信息。由于细菌也通过细胞外囊泡相互交流，因此细胞间通过细胞外货物载体进行通讯在整个进化过程中似乎是保守的，因此囊泡很可能是细胞之间信息交换的一种高效、稳健且经济的方式。此外，囊泡可以防止细胞积聚废物或药物，它们有助于生理和病理，并且具有广泛的潜在临床应用，从生物标志物到抗癌治疗。由于囊泡可以通过血脑屏障，因此它们甚至可以被认为是天然的脂质体。不幸的是，肿瘤和传染病也在利用囊泡释放途径和囊泡本身来促进扩散，并逃避免疫监测。在这篇综述中，将讨论囊泡的不同类型、命名法、功能和临床相关性。
