Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
New Phytol. 2020 Dec;228(5):1505-1510. doi: 10.1111/nph.16725. Epub 2020 Jul 2.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small, membrane-enclosed compartments that mediate the intercellular transport of proteins and small RNAs. In plants, EVs are thought to play a prominent role in immune responses and are being championed as the long-sought-after mechanism for host-induced gene silencing. However, parallel research on mammalian EVs is raising concerns about potential pitfalls faced by all EV researchers that will need to be addressed in order to convincingly establish that EVs are the primary mediators of small RNA transfer between organisms. Here we discuss these pitfalls in the context of plant EV research, with a focus on experimental approaches required to distinguish bona fide EV cargo from merely co-purifying contaminants.
细胞外囊泡（EVs）是一种小型的、膜包裹的隔室，介导蛋白质和小 RNA 的细胞间运输。在植物中，EVs 被认为在免疫反应中起重要作用，并被吹捧为长期以来寻找的宿主诱导基因沉默的机制。然而，对哺乳动物 EVs 的平行研究引起了人们对所有 EV 研究人员所面临的潜在陷阱的关注，为了令人信服地确定 EVs 是生物体之间小 RNA 转移的主要介质，这些问题都需要得到解决。在这里，我们将在植物 EV 研究的背景下讨论这些陷阱，并重点讨论区分真正的 EV 货物与仅仅是共同纯化污染物所需的实验方法。
