Exosomes Mediate the Intercellular Communication after Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

The mechanisms of cardiac repair after myocardial infarction (MI) are complicated and not well-understood currently. It is known that exosomes are released from most cells, recognized as new candidates with important roles in intercellular and tissue-level communication. Cells can package proteins and RNA messages into exosome and secret to recipient cells, which regulate gene expression in recipient cells. The research on exosomes in cardiovascular disease is just emerging. It is well-known that exosomes from cardiomyocyte can transfect endothelial cells, stem cells, fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells to induce cellular changes. After myocardial infarction (MI), the exosomes play important roles in local and distant microcommunication. Nowadays, exosomal microRNAs transportation has been found to deliver signals to mediate cardiac repair after MI. However, the exosomes quality and quantities are variable under different pathological conditions. Therefore, we speculate that the monitoring of the quality and quantity of exosomes may serve as diagnosis and prognosis biomarkers of MI, and the study of exosomes will provide insights for the new therapeutics to cardiac remodeling after MI.

Keywords: exosomes, cardiac remodeling; microRNA; myocardial infarction..