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Updated: Jun 12, 2025

Characterizing Extracellular Vesicles from Biological Fluids
05:07

Characterizing Extracellular Vesicles from Biological Fluids

Published on: February 28, 2025

255

Frontier role of extracellular vesicles in kidney disease

Bei Li1, Chen Qi2, Yifan Zhang3

  • 1Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, Department of laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, China.

Journal of Nanobiotechnology
|September 20, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) show promise for diagnosing and treating kidney diseases. Urinary EVs (uEVs) offer non-invasive monitoring, while mesenchymal stem cell-derived EVs (MSC-EVs) show therapeutic potential for renal repair.

Area of Science:

  • Nephrology
  • Biomaterials Science
  • Regenerative Medicine

Background:

  • Kidney diseases are a major global health concern, characterized by progressive renal function decline.
  • Current treatments for kidney diseases are limited, necessitating novel therapeutic and diagnostic approaches.
  • Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emerging as key players in intercellular communication and disease pathology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the multifaceted role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in kidney diseases.
  • To explore the potential of urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) as non-invasive biomarkers for renal injury.
  • To examine mesenchymal stem cell-derived EVs (MSC-EVs) as therapeutic agents for kidney repair and immunomodulation.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of current literature on EVs in kidney disease.
  • Analysis of studies investigating uEVs for diagnostic and prognostic applications.
  • Evaluation of research on MSC-EVs for immunomodulatory and regenerative effects in renal pathophysiology.

Main Results:

  • Urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) provide a non-invasive method for assessing kidney injury and monitoring disease progression.
  • Mesenchymal stem cell-derived EVs (MSC-EVs) exhibit significant immunomodulatory and tissue repair capabilities.
  • Engineering of EVs can enhance their targeting specificity and therapeutic efficacy in kidney disease models.

Conclusions:

  • Extracellular vesicles (EVs) represent a promising frontier in nephrology, offering novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
  • uEVs hold potential as non-invasive biomarkers for early detection and management of kidney diseases.
  • MSC-EVs present a viable therapeutic avenue for regenerative medicine approaches in kidney disease treatment.
Keywords:
BiomarkerExtracellular vesiclesKidney diseasePathogenesisTargeted therapy

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