The role of microvesicles and its active molecules in regulating cellular biology

Abstract

Cell-derived microvesicles are membrane vesicles produced by the outward budding of the plasma membrane and released by almost all types of cells. These have been considered as another mechanism of intercellular communication, because they carry active molecules, such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. Furthermore, these are present in circulating fluids, such as blood and urine, and are closely correlated to the progression of pathophysiological conditions in many diseases. Recent studies have revealed that microvesicles have a dual effect of damage and protection of receptor cells. However, the nature of the active molecules involved in this effect remains unclear. The present study mainly emphasized the mechanism of microvesicles and the active molecules mediating the different biological effects of receptor cells by affecting autophagy, apoptosis and inflammation pathways. The effective ways of blocking microvesicles and its active molecules in mediating cell damage when microvesicles exert harmful effects were also discussed.

Keywords: active molecules; apoptosis; autophagy; inflammation; lipids; miRNA; microvesicles; proteins.

Figure 1

Cell‐derived MVs mainly carry three types of active substances: protein, lipid and nucleic acid. Among these, the different effects of MVs in target cells are mainly due to the different active ingredients these carry. As shown in this figure, the effects of MVs, which carry different types of active substances in target cells, are listed

Figure 2

The three main pathways for the biological effects of target cells mediated by MVs and their active substances: (A) regulate autophagy through the PI3K/Akt pathway; (B) regulate the apoptosis through the Fas/FasL pathway; and (C) regulate the inflammatory through the NF‐κB pathway

Figure 3

Under stress, cells release spherical MVs containing parental cell‐active components, in which the lipid carried by MVs originates from the plasma membrane, while the protein mainly originates from the cell surface membrane and cytoplasmic secretory proteins, and nucleic acid from the nucleus. (1) These active substances are transferred to target cells through (a) receptor ligand binding, (b) direct fusion and (c) endocytosis, regulating gene expression and protein synthesis in target cells. Effective ways to reduce the content of MVs in body fluid are as follows: (2) inhibiting the interaction between MVs and target cells, and downstream signal transduction; (3) mediating MV clearance; and (4) inhibiting the release of MVs