Extracellular vesicles contain a lipid bilayer membrane that protects the encapsulated material, such as proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and metabolites, from the extracellular environment. These vesicles are released from cells via different mechanisms. During recent years extracellular vesicles have been studied as possible biomarkers for different diseases, as biological nanoparticles for drug delivery, and in basic studies as a tool to understand the structure of biological membranes and the mechanisms involved in vesicular trafficking. Lipids are essential molecular components of extracellular vesicles, but at the moment our knowledge about the lipid composition and the function of lipids in these vesicles is limited. However, the interest of the research community in these molecules is increasing as their role in extracellular vesicles is starting to be acknowledged. In this review, we will present the status of the field and describe what is needed to bring it forward.

细胞外囊泡含有脂质双层膜，可保护包封的物质，如蛋白质、核酸、脂质和代谢物，使其免受细胞外环境的影响。这些囊泡通过不同的机制从细胞中释放出来。近年来，细胞外囊泡已被研究为不同疾病的可能生物标志物，作为用于药物递送的生物纳米颗粒，并在基础研究中作为了解生物膜结构和囊泡运输所涉及的机制的工具。脂质是细胞外囊泡的重要分子成分，但目前我们对脂质组成和脂质在这些囊泡中的功能的了解是有限的。然而，随着这些分子在细胞外囊泡中的作用开始得到承认，研究界对这些分子的兴趣正在增加。在本次审查中，我们将介绍该领域的现状，并描述推动该领域发展所需的条件。