Extracellular vesicles in neurodegenerative disease — pathogenesis to biomarkers

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are secreted by cells of the CNSEVs can be exosomes, microvesicles or apoptotic bodies, and their cargo reflects their cellular originEVs are implicated in neurodegenerative disease according to the prion-like hypothesis of propagationRNA and protein associated with EVs from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum show promise as early biomarkers for some neurodegenerative diseases, but require validationIdentification of robust markers of the most relevant — but relatively low-abudance — EVs in the CSF and blood is a major ongoing challengeFocus is needed on the development of high-yield EV extraction methods that are ultimately applicable to routine clinical use