Figure 1.
Potential EV-associated biomarkers for PD. Exosomes (in orange), MDVs (in yellow) and shedding vesicles (in light blue) are secreted in the microenvironment through different biogenetic pathways: fusion of MVB with the plasma membrane and shedding mechanism. EVs are heterogeneous lipid bilayer structures enriched in sphingomyelin (SM), phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylserine (PS), ceramide and cholesterol. EVs can carry different cargoes (DNA, miRNAs, Alfa-Synuclein, PrPC, LRRK2, DJ-1 and other proteins) from the brain, through the BBB, toward the systemic circulation, where they can be detected as biomarkers. Vesicles reach the target cells through different mechanisms such as uptake or surface binding.