Abstract

Extracellular vesicles are nanoparticles released by prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, with a variety of functional roles in intercellular communication and even in modulation of the immune response. Research in this topic was initially focused on isolation, identification and characterization of the vesicles, with subsequent understanding of the physiological mechanisms in which they are involved. Furthermore, recent studies, particularly with exosomes, have opened the field to novel hypotheses about their usefulness in immunotherapy and as biological markers. This review explores general aspects about the biogenesis and composition of exosomes, as well as their potential use in diagnosis and treatment, based on the knowledge generated about their isolation, production, cargoes, delivery engineering and relationship with the immune response. The findings on its applicability in cancerous processes are promising, but there is still a variety of investigation possibilities of this molecular platforms as cell-free vaccines and as prognostic, diagnostic and/or warning markers, both in cancer but also in infectious diseases.

Keywords: extracellular vesicles; exovesicles; immunotherapy; vaccines; biomarkers.