Center for Translational Neurodegeneration and Regenerative Therapy, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital affiliated to Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China; Translational Research Institute of Brain and Brain-Like Intelligence, Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital affiliated to Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200434, China.
Center for Translational Neurodegeneration and Regenerative Therapy, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital affiliated to Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China.
Ageing Res Rev. 2022 Feb;74:101558. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2021.101558. Epub 2022 Jan 3.
Neurotransmission is the electrical impulse-triggered propagation of signals between neurons or between neurons and other cell types such as skeletal muscle cells. Recent studies point out the involvement of exosomes, a type of small bilipid layer-enclosed extracellular vesicles, in regulating neurotransmission. Through horizontally transferring proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, exosomes can modulate synaptic activities rapidly by controlling neurotransmitter release or progressively by regulating neural plasticity including synapse formation, neurite growth & removal, and axon guidance & elongation. In this review, we summarize the similarities and differences between exosomes and synaptic vesicles in their biogenesis, contents, and release. We also highlight the recent progress made in demonstrating the biological roles of exosome in regulating neurotransmission, and propose a modified model of neurotransmission, in which exosomes act as novel neurotransmitters. Lastly, we provide a comprehensive discussion of the enlightenment of the current knowledge on neurotransmission to the future directions of exosome research.
神经传递是指神经元之间或神经元与其他细胞类型（如骨骼肌细胞）之间的电脉冲触发信号的传播。最近的研究指出，外泌体（一种双层脂质小囊泡）参与了神经传递的调节。通过水平转移蛋白质、脂质和核酸，外泌体可以通过控制神经递质的释放来快速调节突触活动，也可以通过调节神经可塑性（包括突触形成、轴突生长和去除以及轴突导向和伸长）来逐渐调节突触活动。在这篇综述中，我们总结了外泌体和突触小泡在生物发生、内容和释放方面的异同。我们还强调了最近在证明外泌体在调节神经传递中的生物学作用方面取得的进展，并提出了一个改良的神经传递模型，其中外泌体作为新型神经递质发挥作用。最后，我们对当前神经传递知识对未来外泌体研究方向的启示进行了全面讨论。
