A Growing Interest in the Contents of Exosomes in Aging

Exosomes, or extracellular vesicles, are one of the modes by which cells communicate. They are tiny membrane-wrapped packages of signal molecules, constantly secreted and ingested by any population of cells - though note that exosomes are, confusingly, not the same as the larger microvesicles, also membrane-wrapped particles that can carry molecules between cells. Nothing to do with cells is simple or straightforward. In recent years, the falling cost of core biotechnologies has enabled an increasing number of researchers to investigate the contents of exosomes and relate them to specific changes in cellular behavior.

To pick a few examples, exosome signaling is important in the way in which excess fat tissue produces inflammation and metabolic disruption. Researchers are also digging through exosome contents in search of the signals that allow stem cell transplants to produce beneficial effects - it will probably be much more efficient just to deliver the signals themselves. Some groups are adopting an intermediary approach of harvesting and delivering exosomes rather than cells. The specific contents of exosomes definitely change with age, though the details differ for every cell population and process of interest. Senescent cells are one of the root causes of aging, and they produce harmful effects in surrounding cells and tissue structures through inflammatory and other signaling processes - the senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Their exosomes are quite di...

Source: Fight Aging! - October 25, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs