Table 1.
Overview of the main roles described for exosomes in cardiovascular and renal diseases.
| Sample | Disease | Main findings | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| BIOMARKERS SOURCE | |||
| Urine | Aldosteronism | pNCC, marker of aldosteronism | (23) |
| Urine | AKI and podocyte injury | Transcription factors in urinary exosomes | (11) |
| ATF3, marker of early AKI | |||
| WT-1, marker of early podocyte injury | |||
| Urine | Diabetic nephropathy | WT-1, marker of DN | (20) |
| Urine | Diabetic nephropathy | VDAC1, AMBP, MLL3 markers of DN | (18) |
| Urine | Renal I/R injury | Aquaporin-1, novel exosomal marker in renal I/R injury | (22) |
| Urine | DGF in renal transplantation | Exosomal NGAL correlates with DGF patients | (17) |
| INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION | |||
| Kidney cortical collecting duct cells | Functional Aquaporin-2 transfer between kidney cells by exosomes | (13) | |
| Urinary exosome-like vesicles | PKD proteins, shed in urinary membrane particles, which interact with primary cilia | (6) | |
| Model of kidney injury | Exosomes produced by injured epithelial cells activate fibroblasts by delivering TGF-b1 mRNA | (7) | |
| Cardiomyocytes | HIF-1α initiates expression of TNF-α mediated by exosomes in hypoxia | (38) | |
| Vascular smooth muscle cells | VSMC-derived exosomes mediate vascular calcification | (39) | |
| Endothelial cells | HSP70 secretion from endothelial cells is exosome-dependent | (40) | |
| CARDIOPROTECTION | |||
| MSCs | After ischemic preconditioning, MSCs secrete exosomes enriched with miR-22 | (31) | |
| Rats heart | Remote cardioprotection after ischemic preconditioning is mediated by heart extracellular vesicles | (41) | |
| CPCs from mouse hearts | CPC-exosomes, as a therapeutic vehicle for cardioprotection | (34) | |
AKI: acute kidney injury; DN: diabetic nephropathy; DGF: delayed graft function; PKD: polycystic kidney disease; MSCs: mesenchymal stem cells; CPC: cardiac progenitor cells.
Representative examples.