From the Department of Internal Medicine II, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University, Bonn, Germany.
Circ Res. 2017 May 12;120(10):1649-1657. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.117.310752.
Extracellular vesicles originate from diverse subcellular compartments and are released in the extracellular space. By transferring their cargoes into target cells and tissues, they now emerge as novel regulators of intercellular communication between adjacent and remote cells. Because vesicle composition and biological content are specific signatures of cellular activation and injury, their potential as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers has raised significant interest in cardiovascular diseases. Characterization of circulating vesicles- or nonvesicles-bound nucleic acids represents a valuable tool for diagnosing and monitoring cardiovascular diseases, recently referred to as a liquid biopsy. Circulating extracellular vesicles offer a noninvasive and almost continuous access to circulating information on the disease state in epidemiological investigations. Finally, genetic engineering and cell-specific application of extracellular vesicles could display a novel therapeutic option for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about extracellular vesicles as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, as well as their potential applications for longitudinal epidemiological studies in cardiovascular diseases.
细胞外囊泡源自多种亚细胞区室，并在细胞外空间释放。通过将其 cargo 转移到靶细胞和组织中，它们现在成为相邻和远程细胞之间细胞间通讯的新型调节剂。由于囊泡组成和生物内容是细胞激活和损伤的特定特征，因此它们作为诊断和预后生物标志物的潜力在心血管疾病中引起了极大的关注。循环囊泡或非囊泡结合核酸的特征代表了用于诊断和监测心血管疾病的有价值的工具，最近被称为液体活检。循环细胞外囊泡提供了一种非侵入性且几乎连续的方法，可以在流行病学研究中获取有关疾病状态的循环信息。最后，细胞外囊泡的遗传工程和细胞特异性应用可能为心血管疾病的治疗提供新的治疗选择。在这篇综述中，我们总结了关于细胞外囊泡作为诊断和预后生物标志物的最新知识，以及它们在心血管疾病的纵向流行病学研究中的潜在应用。
