title: Extracellular vesicles in parasitic diseases.
abstract: Parasitic diseases affect billions of people and are considered a major public health issue. Close to 400 species are estimated to parasitize humans, of which around 90 are responsible for great clinical burden and mortality rates. Unfortunately, they are largely neglected as they are mainly endemic to poor regions. Of relevance to this review, there is accumulating evidence of the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in parasitic diseases, acting both in parasite-parasite inter-communication as well as in parasite-host interactions. EVs participate in the dissemination of the pathogen and play a role in the regulation of the host immune systems. Production of EVs from parasites or parasitized cells has been described for a number of parasitic infections. In this review, we provide the most relevant findings of the involvement of EVs in intercellular communication, modulation of immune responses, involvement in pathology, and their potential as new diagnostic tools and therapeutic agents in some of the major human parasitic pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Biologia Cel.lular i Parasitologia, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain; antonio.marcilla@uv.es.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marcilla
authors.affiliation: ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martin-Jaular
authors.affiliation: Departament de Biologia Cel.lular i Parasitologia, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trelis
authors.affiliation: ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Menezes-Neto
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biotechnology, Biochemistry and Molecular Parasitology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Osuna
authors.affiliation: Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bernal
authors.affiliation: ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Becerra
authors.affiliation: The Border Biomedical Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), El Paso, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Igor C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca I Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Hernando A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Del Portillo
keywords: exosomes; extracellular vesicles; helminths; microvesicles; parasites; protozoa