Theranostic extracellular vesicles: Emerging frontiers in neuromuscular disease diagnosis and therapy

Extracellular vesicles are endocytic origin nano-sized particles secreted by diverse cell types. These vesicles exchange information that alters the biological response of recipient cells across distant compartments. Neuromuscular diseases are a broad range of acquired or inherited progressive condition that affects the neuron cells and voluntary muscle functioning. Due to mutations and environmental factors, the muscles and neuron cells degenerate and are unable to regenerate. This review focuses on the biological significance and theranostic roles of EVs in the neuromuscular junction and current insights into rare diseases. EV-mediated response in neuromuscular diseases is involved in the pathophysiological process that includes homeostasis, immune response, cell adhesion, crossing the blood-brain barrier, and neuromuscular junction communication. The surface proteins and receptors of EVs serve as diagnostic biomarkers in disease progression and retrogression. Investigating the functional significance of EVs communicated between the brain and muscle may unravel the disease phenotype. Moreover, the current studies on EV therapeutics show a promising therapeutic strategy for the identification of biomarkers in neuromuscular diseases.