Elsevier

Cellular Signalling

Volume 75, November 2020, 109751
Cellular Signalling

Review
Extracellular vesicle signalling in atherosclerosis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cellsig.2020.109751Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Extracellular vesicles are secreted under physiological and pathological conditions.

  • They participate in cellular signalling via transfer of their cargo.

  • They may contribute to all stages of atherosclerotic lesion progression.

  • Circulating extracellular vesicles could serve as biomarkers.

  • Extracellular vesicles could be used as therapeutic tools.

Abstract

Atherosclerosis is a major cardiovascular disease and in 2016, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated 17.5 million global deaths, corresponding to 31% of all global deaths, were driven by inflammation and deposition of lipids into the arterial wall. This leads to the development of plaques which narrow the vessel lumen, particularly in the coronary and carotid arteries. Atherosclerotic plaques can become unstable and rupture, leading to myocardial infarction or stroke. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous population of vesicles secreted from cells with a wide range of biological functions. EVs participate in cell-cell communication and signalling via transport of cargo including enzymes, DNA, RNA and microRNA in both physiological and patholophysiological settings. EVs are present in atherosclerotic plaques and have been implicated in cellular signalling processes in atherosclerosis development, including immune responses, inflammation, cell proliferation and migration, cell death and vascular remodeling during progression of the disease. In this review, we summarise the current knowledge regarding EV signalling in atherosclerosis progression and the potential of utilising EV signatures as biomarkers of disease.

Keywords

Extracellular vesicles (EVs)
Atherosclerosis
Coronary artery disease (CAD)
microRNA (miRNA)

Abbreviations

coronary artery disease
(CAD)
cardiovascular disease
(CVD)
endosomal sorting complex required for transport
(ESCRT)
extracellular vesicle
(EV)
intraluminal vesicles
(ILV)
late sorting endosome
(LSE)
low density lipoprotein
(LDL)
smooth muscle cell
(SMC)
endothelial cell
(EC)
matrix metalloproteinase
(MMP)
multi-vesicular body
(MVB)

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