Microparticles (Exosomes) and Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Purpose of review: This review summarizes the effects of microparticles and exosomes in the progression of atherosclerosis and the prospect for their diagnostic and therapeutic potentials.

Recent findings: Microparticles and exosomes can induce endothelial dysfunction, vascular inflammation, coagulation, thrombosis, and calcification via their components of proteins and noncoding RNAs, which may promote the progression of atherosclerosis. The applications of microparticles and exosomes become the spotlight of clinical diagnosis and therapy. Microparticles and exosomes are members of extracellular vesicles, which are generated in various cell types by different mechanisms of cell membrane budding and multivesicular body secretion, respectively. They are important physiologic pathways of cell-to-cell communication in vivo and act as messengers accelerating or alleviating the process of atherosclerosis. Microparticles and exosomes may become diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic approaches of atherosclerosis.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Exosomes; Extracellular vesicles; Microparticles; Microvesicles.