Extracellular Matrix and Extracellular Vesicles Interaction

Dear Colleagues,

The fundamental role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is to provide a supportive scaffold for cells and tissues, promoting cell aggregation and providing a substrate for cell migration. At the same time, cells are the main players in protein synthesis, with consequent ECM modification.

Indeed, the cross-talk between ECM and cells has mutual effects. The ECM can affect directly or indirectly the surrounding cells. On the one hand, cell surface behaviour can be directly influenced through ECM-specific receptors: these promote the binding of cells to the ECM, and consequently the cells sense their surroundings and actively modulate their behaviour depending on the ECM composition. On the other hand, the ECM can sequester and store soluble growth factors and present them to growth factor receptors on the cell surface during specific stages of cell development, thus indirectly influencing cell behavior. In this way, the ECM can contribute to the establishment of gradients of secreted signaling molecules or can concentrate these factors around certain cell types and facilitate the binding to their receptors. This influence affects gene expression, leading to such diverse cellular responses as proliferation, polarization, migration, differentiation, survival, and apoptosis, directly through ECM receptors.

All the above described processes may be mediated by Extracellular Vesicles (EVs). EVs are produced in the inner part of all mammal cells and are shuttles of information among cells, ECM, and whole tissues. EVs possess a cargo of biologically active molecules, spanning from mRNA to proteins, while they express adhesion molecules, such as integrins, tetraspanins, growth factor receptors, on the surface. Consequently, EVs interact and regulate the synthesis of ECM components, which is crucial for organ development and wound healing. Very attractive for their immunomodulatory properties, EVs have also shown the ability to modulate fibrosis in tissues. It has been demonstrated that EVs carry matrix metalloproteinases, involved in ECM remodeling, and thus can modify the microenvironment.

The aim of this Special Issue is to point out the interplay among ECM, cells, and EVs as the main actors in tissue building and de-bulding. In particular, research on the biochemical signals trapped in the ECM and carried on inside EVs produced by the cells deserves a special effort to enveil new mechanisms of tissue modification both in health and in disease.

Dr. Michela Pozzobon
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. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). 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.

• Extracellular matrix 
• Extracellular vesicles 
• Microenvironment 
• Integrins