Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017;15(1):157-165.
doi: 10.2174/1570159x14666160825160421.

Exosomes: The Messengers of Health and Disease

Allison L Isola, Suzie Chen  1
Affiliations
Review

Exosomes: The Messengers of Health and Disease

Allison L Isola et al. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2017.

Abstract

Exosomes are small vesicles comprised of a lipid bilayer containing various proteins, RNAs and bioactive lipids. They act as intercellular messengers that give the ability to communicate between both cells of the same type and other cell types. They are released by healthy cells, both constitutively and upon cell activation and play an important role in immune system function. Exosomes are essential for healthy physiological conditions, however under pathological circumstances, they act to potentiate cellular stress and damage. This review explores the characteristics, biogenesis, role(s) in the pathogenesis of diseases and role(s) in progression of cancer of these nano-sized messages-in-a-vesicle: exosomes.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Grimmelikhuijzen C.J., Hauser F. Mini-review: the evolution of neuropeptide signaling. Regul. Pept. 2012;177(Suppl.):S6–S9. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.regpep.2012.05.001]. [PMID: 22726357]. - PubMed
    1. Abounit S., Zurzolo C. Wiring through tunneling nanotubesfrom electrical signals to organelle transfer. J. Cell Sci. 2012;125(Pt 5):1089–1098. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.083279]. [PMID: 22399801]. - PubMed
    1. Orellana J.A., Sánchez H.A., Schalper K.A., Figueroa V., Sáez J.C. Regulation of intercellular calcium signaling through calcium interactions with connexin-based channels. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 2012;740:777–794. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2888-2_34]. [PMID: 22453969]. - PubMed
    1. Simons M., Raposo G. Exosomesvesicular carriers for intercellular communication. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 2009;21(4):575–581. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ceb.2009.03.007]. [PMID: 19442504]. - PubMed
    1. Harding C., Heuser J., Stahl P. Receptor-mediated endocytosis of transferrin and recycling of the transferrin receptor in rat reticulocytes. J. Cell Biol. 1983;97(2):329–339. [http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1083/jcb.97.2.329]. [PMID: 6309857]. - PMC - PubMed