Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are increasingly recognized as important mediators of intercellular communication. They have important roles in numerous physiological and pathological processes, and show considerable promise as novel biomarkers of disease, as therapeutic agents and as drug delivery vehicles. Intriguingly, however, understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern the many observed functions of EVs remains far from comprehensive, at least partly due to technical challenges in working with these small messengers. Here, we highlight areas of consensus as well as contentious issues in our understanding of the intracellular and intercellular journey of EVs: from biogenesis, release and dynamics in the extracellular space, to interaction with and uptake by recipient cells. We define knowledge gaps, identify key questions and challenges, and make recommendations on how to address these.

细胞外囊泡 (EVs) 越来越被认为是细胞间通讯的重要介质。它们在许多生理和病理过程中发挥着重要作用，并显示出作为疾病的新型生物标志物、治疗剂和药物输送载体的巨大潜力。然而，有趣的是，对控制电动汽车许多观察到的功能的细胞和分子机制的理解仍然远非全面，至少部分原因是与这些小信使合作时存在技术挑战。在这里，我们强调了我们对 EV 的细胞内和细胞间旅程的理解中的共识领域和有争议的问题：从细胞外空间的生物发生、释放和动力学，到与受体细胞的相互作用和摄取。我们定义知识差距，