Advances in Extracellular Vesicle Research Over the Past Decade: Source and Isolation Method are Connected with Cargo...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical science
• Cell communication
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are increasingly recognized as critical cell signaling particles.
• EV research has integrated nanotechnology into biomedical cell communication science.
• A vast body of literature exists on EVs, necessitating a comprehensive overview.

Purpose of the Study:

• To map the global landscape of extracellular vesicle (EV) research from 2013-2022.
• To identify and analyze associations between EV source, isolation methods, cargo, and function.
• To provide strategic insights for advancing EV research and product development.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of 20,364 original research articles from PubMed (2013-2022).
• Application of machine learning to categorize high-dimensional data.
• Dissection of associations between EV source, isolation, cargo, and function.

Main Results:

• Identified unexpected correlations between EV source, isolation strategy, cargo, and function.
• Revealed prevalent experimental strategies based on cargo-function connectivity.
• Demonstrated a conceptually relevant association between size-based isolation, protein cargo, and cellular uptake.

Conclusions:

• The findings guide strategic conclusions for enhancing future EV research.
• Established associations can inform EV product development.
• An open-source database was created to facilitate further AI-driven analysis of causative associations.