Armstrong Don, Wildman Derek E
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
J Pathol Transl Med. 2018 Jan;52(1):1-8. doi: 10.4132/jptm.2017.05.21. Epub 2018 Jan 15.
The rapid and accurate diagnosis of patients with minimally invasive procedures was once only found in science fiction. However, the discovery of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their near ubiquity in body fluids, coupled with the advent of inexpensive next generation sequencing techniques and EV purification protocols, promises to make science fiction a reality. Purifying and sequencing the RNA content of EV from routine blood draws and urine samples are likely to enable pathologists and physicians to diagnose and track the progress of diseases in many inaccessible tissues in the near future. Here we present the evolutionary background of EV, summarize the biology of EV formation and cargo selection, and discuss the current barriers to making continuous liquid biopsies through the use of EV a science reality.
曾经，通过微创程序对患者进行快速准确的诊断仅出现在科幻小说中。然而，细胞外囊泡（EVs）的发现及其在体液中的几乎无处不在，再加上廉价的下一代测序技术和EV纯化方案的出现，有望使科幻小说成为现实。从常规血液抽取和尿液样本中纯化和测序EV的RNA含量，可能使病理学家和医生在不久的将来能够诊断和跟踪许多难以接近的组织中的疾病进展。在这里，我们介绍了EV的进化背景，总结了EV形成和货物选择的生物学过程，并讨论了通过使用EV进行连续液体活检成为科学现实的当前障碍。
