Extracellular vesicles play a significant role in many aspects of cellular life including cell-to-cell communication, pathogenesis and cancer progression. However very little is known about their role in fungi and we are just at the beginning of understanding their influence on fungal pathophysiology and host–pathogen interactions. Recent findings have revealed a role for fungal vesicles in triggering anti-microbial activities as well as in modulating virulence strategies, suggesting potential new avenues for antifungal therapies. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of fungal extracellular vesicles, including their biogenesis, secretion and size variation, and discuss how they may influence the human immune response and some key questions that remain unanswered.

细胞外囊泡在细胞生命的许多方面发挥着重要作用，包括细胞间通讯、发病机制和癌症进展。然而，人们对它们在真菌中的作用知之甚少，我们才刚刚开始了解它们对真菌病理生理学和宿主 - 病原体相互作用的影响。最近的研究结果揭示了真菌囊泡在触发抗微生物活性以及调节毒力策略中的作用，为抗真菌治疗提供了潜在的新途径。在这篇综述中，我们总结了我们目前对真菌细胞外囊泡的理解，包括它们的生物发生、分泌和大小变化，并讨论它们如何影响人类免疫反应以及一些仍未得到解答的关键问题。