Gene

Function (biology)

microRNA

Extracellular vesicle

Cell biology

Extracellular vesicles

Biology

Microvesicles

Extracellular

Lipid bilayer

Vesicle

Biological membrane

Biochemistry

Membrane

Nucleic acid

Chemistry

Biophysics

Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews

Extracellular vesicles contain a lipid bilayer membrane that protects the encapsulated material, such as proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and metabolites, from the extracellular environment. These vesicles are released from cells via different mechanisms. During recent years extracellular vesicles have been studied as possible biomarkers for different diseases, as biological nanoparticles for drug delivery, and in basic studies as a tool to understand the structure of biological membranes and the mechanisms involved in vesicular trafficking. Lipids are essential molecular components of extracellular vesicles, but at the moment our knowledge about the lipid composition and the function of lipids in these vesicles is limited. However, the interest of the research community in these molecules is increasing as their role in extracellular vesicles is starting to be acknowledged. In this review, we will present the status of the field and describe what is needed to bring it forward.

An emerging focus on lipids in extracellular vesicles