Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are well-known mediators of the cellular response to different stress factors, yet the exact mechanism of their action remains unclear. Hence, the characterization of their cargo, consisting of proteins, nucleic acids, and different classes of metabolites, helps to elucidate an understanding of their function in stress-related communication. The unexpected diversity and complexity of these vesicles requires the incorporation of multiple technologically advanced approaches in EV-oriented studies. This mini review focuses on the invaluable role of proteomics, especially mass spectrometry-based tools, in the investigation of the role of small EVs in their response to stress. Though relatively few experimental works address this issue to date, the available data indicate that stress conditions would affect the composition of protein cargo of vesicles released by stressed cells, as evidenced by the functional importance of such changes in the context of the response of recipient cells.
Keywords: exosome; extracellular vesicles; genotoxic stress; heat shock; hypoxia; mass spectrometry; oxidative stress; proteome.