There is a close relationship between viruses and lipid vesicles. The most frequently described concerns enveloped viruses, which acquire their envelope through mechanisms involved in extracellular vesicles (EVs) biogenesis. However, EVs' hijacking is not unique to enveloped viruses. In 2013, a new category of viruses emerged : the quasi-enveloped viruses. These are naked viruses found in vesicles at certain steps of their viral cycle. Actually, several naked viruses, from different families, hijack the production routes of EVs : poliovirus, polyomaviruses, rotavirus, etc. This diversion of EVs confers many advantages : diversification of entry and exit pathways, infectivity improvement and immune evasion. This review will take the reader around this subject.
Keywords: en bloc transmission; extracellular vesicles; hijacking; viruses.