ijms-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Molecular Linkage between Atherosclerosis and Extracellular Vesicles

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2025 | Viewed by 3562

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacogenomics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: biochemistry; exosomes; DNA damage
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease driven by lipid accumulation in arteries, leading to narrowing and thrombosis that cause mortality. Atherosclerosis affects younger people and is involved in the majority of deaths worldwide. Vascular inflammation contributes to atherogenesis by activation of the molecular and cellular pathways and plays a critical role in causing atherosclerosis plaques to become unstable and rupture, leading to a stroke or myocardial infarction. The molecular mechanisms associated with thrombotic complications of atherosclerosis have evolved much beyond the ‘vulnerable plaque’ concept. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), like exosomes, are small, lipid bilayer-enclosed structures secreted by endothelial cells, immune cells and other cardiovascular tissues. They are associated with key steps in atherosclerosis, including endothelial dysfunction and vascular wall inflammation resulting in vascular remodeling. EVs inherit bioactive components from parent cells and are able to transfer their contents to recipient cells. EVs regulate gene expression in recipient cells by carrying mRNA, miRNA, proteins and bioactive molecules between cells. EV microRNAs are key players in cardiac regeneration and have cardioprotective and regenerative properties that influence cardiac and non-cardiac cells as well as stem and progenitor cells. Therefore, EVs are valuable prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Wioletta Olejarz
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • atherosclerosis
  • extracellular vesicles
  • exosomes
  • vascular inflammation
  • stroke
  • biomarkers
  • miRNA
  • stem and progenitor cells
  • cardiovascular diseases

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 2737 KiB  
Article
Extracellular Vesicles Secreted by Adipose Tissue during Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Influence Reverse Cholesterol Transport-Related Gene Expression in Human Macrophages
by Kseniia V. Dracheva, Irina A. Pobozheva, Kristina A. Anisimova, Aleksandra A. Panteleeva, Luiza A. Garaeva, Stanislav G. Balandov, Zarina M. Hamid, Dmitriy I. Vasilevsky, Sofya N. Pchelina and Valentina V. Miroshnikova
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(12), 6457; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25126457 - 12 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1002
Abstract
Obesity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Adipose tissue (AT) extracellular vesicles (EVs) could play a role in obesity and T2DM associated CVD progression via the influence of their specific cargo on gene expression in [...] Read more.
Obesity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Adipose tissue (AT) extracellular vesicles (EVs) could play a role in obesity and T2DM associated CVD progression via the influence of their specific cargo on gene expression in recipient cells. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of AT EVs of patients with obesity with/without T2DM on reverse cholesterol transport (RCT)-related gene expression in human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) from healthy donors. AT EVs were obtained after ex vivo cultivation of visceral and subcutaneous AT (VAT and SAT, respectively). ABCA1, ABCG1, PPARG, LXRβ (NR1H2), and LXRα (NR1H3) mRNA levels in MDMs as well as in origine AT were determined by a real-time PCR. T2DM VAT and SAT EVs induced ABCG1 gene expression whereas LXRα and PPARG mRNA levels were simultaneously downregulated. PPARG mRNA levels also decreased in the presence of VAT EVs of obese patients without T2DM. In contrast ABCA1 and LXRβ mRNA levels tended to increase with the addition of obese AT EVs. Thus, AT EVs can influence RCT gene expression in MDMs during obesity, and the effects are dependent on T2DM status. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Linkage between Atherosclerosis and Extracellular Vesicles)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

17 pages, 2666 KiB  
Review
Extracellular Vesicles in Atherosclerosis: State of the Art
by Wioletta Olejarz, Karol Sadowski and Klaudia Radoszkiewicz
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(1), 388; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25010388 - 27 Dec 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2127
Abstract
Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease driven by lipid accumulation in the arteries, leading to narrowing and thrombosis that causes mortality. Emerging evidence has confirmed that atherosclerosis affects younger people and is involved in the majority of deaths worldwide. EVs are associated with [...] Read more.
Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease driven by lipid accumulation in the arteries, leading to narrowing and thrombosis that causes mortality. Emerging evidence has confirmed that atherosclerosis affects younger people and is involved in the majority of deaths worldwide. EVs are associated with critical steps in atherosclerosis, cholesterol metabolism, immune response, endothelial dysfunction, vascular inflammation, and remodeling. Endothelial cell-derived EVs can interact with platelets and monocytes, thereby influencing endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerotic plaque destabilization, and the formation of thrombus. EVs are potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in atherosclerosis (AS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Importantly, EVs derived from stem/progenitor cells are essential mediators of cardiogenesis and cardioprotection and may be used in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Linkage between Atherosclerosis and Extracellular Vesicles)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop