Extracellular vesicles as novel biomarkers and pharmaceutic targets of diseases

Extracellular microvesicles (MVs) and exosomes (EXs) are the major types of extracellular vesicles (EVs) which can carry and transfer molecular messages (proteins, mRNAs and microRNAs, etc)1. Thereby, EVs could serve to mark the changes of the producing cells and to function on the recipient cells2.These features deem EVs as potential biomarkers and pharmacological targets for various diseases including metabolic, vascular and neurological diseases and tumors3. The current special feature provides reviews and original research articles on novel pharmacological studies of MVs and EXs