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Review
. 2020 Jun 28;12(7):700.
doi: 10.3390/v12070700.

Extracellular Vesicles in Viral Infections of the Nervous System

Naseer A Kutchy  1 , Eric S Peeples  2 , Susmita Sil  1 , Ke Liao  1 , Ernest T Chivero  1 , Guoku Hu  1 , Shilpa Buch  1
Affiliations
Review

Extracellular Vesicles in Viral Infections of the Nervous System

Naseer A Kutchy et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Almost all types of cells release extracellular vesicles (EVs) into the extracellular space. EVs such as exosomes and microvesicles are membrane-bound vesicles ranging in size from 30 to 1000 nm in diameter. Under normal conditions, EVs mediate cell to cell as well as inter-organ communication via the shuttling of their cargoes which include RNA, DNA and proteins. Under pathological conditions, however, the number, size and content of EVs are found to be altered and have been shown to play crucial roles in disease progression. Emerging studies have demonstrated that EVs are involved in many aspects of viral infection-mediated neurodegenerative diseases. In the current review, we will describe the interactions between EV biogenesis and the release of virus particles while also reviewing the role of EVs in various viral infections, such as HIV-1, HTLV, Zika, CMV, EBV, Hepatitis B and C, JCV, and HSV-1. We will also discuss the potential uses of EVs and their cargoes as biomarkers and therapeutic vehicles for viral infections.

Keywords: HIV-1; Zika; exosome; neurodegenerative diseases; virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Virus replication and release share intracellular pathways with microvesicle and exosome biogenesis and release. Most of the cellular machinery involving the genome, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complex, lysosomes, late endosome, and multivesicular bodies (MVBs) are mutually used by viruses to replicate inside the cell and by the host cell for the generation of extracellular vesicles (EVs) such as microvesicles and exosomes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pro-apoptotic effects of viruses on EV cargo. Several viruses including hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) induce their pro-apoptotic effects through signaling molecules that are carried by EVs, which, in turn, act on a variety of apoptosis signaling pathways in the recipient cells.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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