Role of Exosomes in Brain Diseases

Nan Zhang; Fengling He; Ting Li; Jinzhi Chen; Liping Jiang; Xin-Ping Ouyang; Lielian Zuo

doi:10.3389/fncel.2021.743353

Role of Exosomes in Brain Diseases

Front Cell Neurosci. 2021 Sep 13:15:743353. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2021.743353. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Nan Zhang¹, Fengling He¹, Ting Li¹, Jinzhi Chen¹, Liping Jiang^{1

2}, Xin-Ping Ouyang^{1

3}, Lielian Zuo¹

Affiliations

¹ Hengyang Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration and Cognitive Impairment, Department of Physiology, Hengyang Medical School, Institute of Neuroscience Research, University of South China, Hengyang, China.
² Hunan Taihe Hospital, Changsha, China.
³ Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, China.

Abstract

Exosomes are a subset of extracellular vesicles that act as messengers to facilitate communication between cells. Non-coding RNAs, proteins, lipids, and microRNAs are delivered by the exosomes to target molecules (such as proteins, mRNAs, or DNA) of host cells, thereby playing a key role in the maintenance of normal brain function. However, exosomes are also involved in the occurrence, prognosis, and clinical treatment of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. In this review, we have summarized novel findings that elucidate the role of exosomes in the occurrence, prognosis, and treatment of brain diseases.

Keywords: biomarkers; brain diseases; cargo; clinical treatment; exosomes; miRNAs.

Publication types

Review