Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Immunology
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Immunology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2024 | Viewed by 7635
Special Issue Editors
Interests: immune system; allergic diseases; extracellular vesicles; immunotherapy; nanoparticles
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cells can communicate in different ways by means of soluble factors or cell-to-cell contact; however, an increasing body of evidence has recently demonstrated that cells can communicate through the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, microvesicles, and apoptotic bodies. EVs are particles composed of an outer lipid bilayer of variable size that, during the immune response, are selectively loaded with immune regulatory proteins, such as cytokines, which makes them important messengers delivering targeted biological signals. The vesicular signalling now emerges as a critical component of innate immunity that orchestrates actions of multiple immune system cells in infectious and inflammatory diseases. It is interesting to note that EVs are highly heterogeneous concerning their composition, location, and function as indicated by their parental cells. The cargo transfer regulates various cellular activities ranging from gene expression to metabolism. Of note, the number of EVs produced and the cargos loaded into these extracellular vesicles depends on the state (physiological or pathological) and microenvironment of the donor cells also opening the way to the relevance of EVs and their cargo content for human toxicology studies. Indeed, EVs isolated from patient body fluids have been studied in research concerning disease biomarkers and early diagnosis possibilities in inflammatory diseases as atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
In this Special Issue, we welcome manuscripts addressing original research and review papers as well as short communications highlighting the characteristics of EVs. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Immunological response (innate and adaptive immunity, including inflammation, antigen presentation, and the development and activation of B cells and T cells);
- Characterization of EVs’ cargo content (microRNAs, lipids, mRNAs, etc);
- Next-generation drug delivery platforms;
- Relevance of EVs in human toxicology studies.
Dr. Paolo Colombo
Dr. Valeria Longo
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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