Diagnostic and therapeutic potential of exosomes in Alzheimer’s disease

• Published in: Journal of neurochemistry Vol. 156; no. 2; pp. 162 - 181
• Main Authors: Soares Martins, Tânia, Trindade, Dário, Vaz, Margarida, Campelo, Inês, Almeida, Martim, Trigo, Guilherme, da Cruz e Silva, Odete A. B., Henriques, Ana Gabriela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease; Alzheimer's Disease; Animals; biomarker; Biomarkers; diagnosis; Diagnostic systems; exosome; Exosomes; Humans; miRNA; Neurodegenerative diseases; Pathogenesis; therapeutics; diagnosis; therapeutics; biomarker; Alzheimer's Disease; exosome
• ISSN: 0022-3042; 1471-4159; 1471-4159
• DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15112

Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles released by almost all cell types in physiological and pathological conditions. The exosomal potential to unravel disease mechanisms, or to be used as a source of biomarkers, is being explored, in particularly in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease in the world and exosomes appear to have a relevant role in disease pathogenesis. This review summarizes the current knowledge on exosome contributions to AD as well as their use as disease biomarker resources or therapeutic targets. The most recent findings with respect to both protein and miRNA biomarker candidates for AD, herein described, highlight the state of the art in this field and encourage the use of exosomes derived from biofluids in clinical practice in the near future. Blood‐derived exosomes as potential Alzheimer's disease biomarker resources. Exosomes can be secreted by the central nervous cells, including from neurons (in yellow) and astrocytes (in green) and cross the blood–brain barrier, being easily accessible in peripheral biofluids, like blood. These exosomes can transport Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenic content, as Aβ peptide (in red), Tau (the grey curved form) and P‐Tau proteins (the grey curved form with small red dots), but also nucleic acids (in black), supporting their use as suitable tools in biomarker discovery for AD diagnostics or therapeutics.