The Development of Extracellular Vesicles

For a long time, scientists believed that the small particles released by cells were merely waste – insignificant “cellular debris” without any real function. However, research has shown quite the opposite. These particles, known as extracellular vesicles (EVs), are in fact the cell's own communication packages – small, membrane-bound messengers that convey information between different parts of the body.

A simple way to understand EVs is to think of them as “tweets between cells.”

Each vesicle carries a message – a kind of biological text message – which can contain proteins, RNA, or other molecules. By analyzing the contents of these small packages, we can learn who sent the message, why it was sent, and sometimes even where it is headed. This provides us with a unique insight into what is happening inside the body without needing to directly examine the tissues.

The discovery of EVs dates back to the 1960s, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that researchers began to understand that these particles actually had a function – that they could transfer biological information between cells. This was a breakthrough that changed the perspective on cell communication and opened the door to entirely new research fields.

Today, EVs are highly relevant in medical research and have garnered significant interest as biomarkers – natural signals that reflect changes in the body under various conditions. Several studies have shown that the composition and quantity of EVs can change with diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative conditions, and stress-related exhaustion. This makes them an important piece of the puzzle for better understanding how the body responds to disease and recovery – and for identifying biological processes that have previously been difficult to study directly in tissue.

Even in the area of stress-related exhaustion, EVs have gained significance. Research indicates that vesicles originating from the brain’s astrocytes can leak into the bloodstream during prolonged stress. By measuring these NeuroEVs, we can gain insight into how the brain is affected – and possibly how it recovers over time.

The future of EV research is very promising. By understanding how these small “tweets” between cells function, we can develop new diagnostic methods and treatments – not only for stress and exhaustion but also for cancer, autoimmune diseases, and neurodegenerative conditions.

It is fascinating to think that something once dismissed as debris now turns out to be one of the body's sophisticated communication systems – and could be one of the tools to understand many of our most complex diseases.