Hutcheson Joshua D, Aikawa Elena
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida.
Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences.
Curr Opin Cardiol. 2018 May;33(3):290-297. doi: 10.1097/HCO.0000000000000510.
Extracellular vesicles have emerged as one of the most important means through which cells interact with each other and the extracellular environment, but extracellular vesicle research remains challenging due to their small size, limited amount of material required for traditional molecular biology assays and inconsistency in the methods of their isolation. The advent of new technologies and standards in the field, however, have led to increased mechanistic insight into extracellular vesicle function. Herein, the latest studies on the role of extracellular vesicles in cardiovascular physiology and disease are discussed.
Extracellular vesicles help control cardiovascular homeostasis and remodelling by mediating communication between cells and directing alterations in the extracellular matrix to respond to changes in the environment. The message carried from the parent cell to extracellular space can be intended for both local (within the same tissue) and distal (downstream of blood flow) targets. Pathological cargo loaded within extracellular vesicles could further result in various diseases. On the contrary, new studies indicate that injection of extracellular vesicles obtained from cultured cells into diseased tissues can promote restoration of normal tissue function.
Extracellular vesicles are an integral part of cell and tissue function, and harnessing the properties inherent to extracellular vesicles may provide a therapeutic strategy to promote tissue regeneration.
细胞外囊泡已成为细胞相互作用以及与细胞外环境相互作用的最重要方式之一，但由于其尺寸小、传统分子生物学检测所需材料量有限以及分离方法不一致，细胞外囊泡研究仍然具有挑战性。然而，该领域新技术和标准的出现，使人们对细胞外囊泡功能的机制有了更多了解。本文讨论了细胞外囊泡在心血管生理学和疾病中的最新研究。
细胞外囊泡通过介导细胞间通讯和指导细胞外基质的改变以响应环境变化，从而有助于控制心血管稳态和重塑。从母细胞传递到细胞外空间的信息可以针对局部（同一组织内）和远端（血流下游）靶点。细胞外囊泡中装载的病理性货物可能会进一步导致各种疾病。相反，新研究表明，将从培养细胞中获得的细胞外囊泡注射到患病组织中可以促进正常组织功能的恢复。
细胞外囊泡是细胞和组织功能的一个组成部分，利用细胞外囊泡固有的特性可能提供一种促进组织再生的治疗策略。
