title: Circulating microparticles: square the circle.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present review summarizes current knowledge about microparticles (MPs) and provides a systematic overview of last 20 years of research on circulating MPs, with particular focus on their clinical relevance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MPs are a heterogeneous population of cell-derived vesicles, with sizes ranging between 50 and 1000 nm. MPs are capable of transferring peptides, proteins, lipid components, microRNA, mRNA, and DNA from one cell to another without direct cell-to-cell contact. Growing evidence suggests that MPs present in peripheral blood and body fluids contribute to the development and progression of cancer, and are of pathophysiological relevance for autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious, cardiovascular, hematological, and other diseases. MPs have large diagnostic potential as biomarkers; however, due to current technological limitations in purification of MPs and an absence of standardized methods of MP detection, challenges remain in validating the potential of MPs as a non-invasive and early diagnostic platform.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Improvements in the effective deciphering of MP molecular signatures will be critical not only for diagnostics, but also for the evaluation of treatment regimens and predicting disease outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, D-249, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Natasha.Barteneva@childrens.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Natasha S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Barteneva
authors.forename: Elizaveta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fasler-Kan
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernimoulin
authors.forename: Joel N H
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Eugeny D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Ponomarev
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duckett
authors.forename: Ivan A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Vorobjev
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D055252:Cell-Derived Microparticles / Q000502:physiology*; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*