What are exosomes? Exosomes are small membrane vesicles secreted by most cell types, Internal vesicles form by the inward budding of cellular compartments known as multivesicular endosomes (MVE). When MVE fuse with the plasma membrane, these internal vesicles are released as exosomes, which can travel to distant tissues to influence various aspects of cell behavior and physiology.
Exosomes Are Not Small Cells
- Does not contain DNA.
- Does not contain Mitochondria.
- Does not contain Golgi Apparatus
- ~1/1,000 the size of a cell.
- Direct cell to cell communication.
Extracellular vesicles (EV’s)
Extracellular vesicles (EV’s) consist of exosomes and microvesicles which are released directly from the cell membrane. EV’s can mediate cell–cell communication and are crucial in many processes including immune signaling, angiogenesis, stress response, senescence, proliferation, and cell differentiation. EV’s are involved in restoring tissue and organ damage and may partially explain the paracrine effects observed in stem cell- based therapeutic approaches. The function and content of EV’s may also harbor information that can be used in tissue engineering, in which paracrine signaling is employed to modulate cell recruitment, differentiation, and proliferation.
Paracrine Signaling
Paracrine signaling is a form of cell-to-cell communication in which a cell produces a signal to induce changes in nearby cells, thus altering the behavior of those cells. Signaling molecules known as paracrine factors diffuse over a relatively short distance (local action), as opposed to endocrine factors (hormones which travel considerably longer distances via the circulatory system), juxtacrine interactions, and autocrine signaling.
Clinical Applications
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