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Genetic and Epigenetic Insights into Extracellular Vesicles
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Genetic and Epigenetic Insights into Extracellular Vesicles

A Special Issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067) belonging to the section "Biochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2026) | Viewed by 1582

Editors

Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Vlachakis

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Guest Editor
Genetics Laboratory, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Interests: genetics; epigenetics; exosomes; bioinformatics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. George P. Chrousos

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Guest Editor
University Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health and Precision Medicine, Medical School, "Aghia Sophia" Children's Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece
Interests: pediatrics; endocrinology; metabolism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small membrane-bound vesicles that are secreted by various cells, including endocrine cells. They play crucial roles in intercellular communication by transferring various bioactive molecules, such as proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids, between cells. EVs carry genetic and epigenetic information, which may impact multiple cell functions and contribute to the regulation of homeostasis and a repertoire of signaling pathways. From genetic and epigenetic perspectives, EVs contain genetic material, including DNA, mRNAs, lncRNAs, microRNAs, and, possibly, other types of RNAs, transferring information horizontally among cells, organs, and tissues. On the other hand, EVs may be involved in epigenetic modifications, such as nucleic acid methylation, histone acetylation, etc.; play crucial roles in gene regulation; and be inherited vertically along consecutive generations. Thus, exosomal cargo may influence both the genetic and epigenetic landscapes of recipient cells and modulate many functions of proximal or distal tissues. In addition, given their presence in maternal milk, they may transfer information from mother to infant. Overall, the genetic, epigenetic, and other information carried by EVs are expected to provide insights into their roles in intercellular communication, as well as in gene regulation and in homeostasis in health and disease.

Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Vlachakis
Prof. Dr. George P. Chrousos
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • exosomes
  • extracellular vesicles
  • cell–cell communication
  • endocrinology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 1110 KB  
Article
Cross-Species Analysis of Milk Extracellular Vesicles Reveals a Conserved Innate Core and a Divergent, Human-Specific Adaptive Immune Fraction
by Eleni Papakonstantinou, George P. Chrousos and Dimitrios Vlachakis
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(18), 8142; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27188142 - 12 Sep 2026
Abstract
Milk-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) carry proteins and microRNAs that mediate immune communication between mother and offspring, yet which inflammation-related cargo is conserved—and which is species specific—across mammals remains poorly defined. We assembled MetaMilkDB, a provenance-tracked database integrating proteomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic and pathway-level evidence [...] Read more.
Milk-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) carry proteins and microRNAs that mediate immune communication between mother and offspring, yet which inflammation-related cargo is conserved—and which is species specific—across mammals remains poorly defined. We assembled MetaMilkDB, a provenance-tracked database integrating proteomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic and pathway-level evidence for milk-EVs across four species (Homo sapiens, Bos taurus, Capra hircus, Ovis aries), combining curated studies with in-house EV proteomics (265,009 measurements). Of 4958 EV protein families, 570 (11.5%) formed a conserved core containing five inflammation markers (HP, LTF, MUC1, MUC15, TLR2), four re-detected in our in-house proteomes. This core was an innate scaffold and was not itself enriched for inflammation; instead, inflammation cargo concentrated in the species-specific fraction, overwhelmingly in human milk (45/966 vs. 6/1222 shared; odds ratio 9.9; q = 1.6 × 10−10), forming a secretory-immunoglobulin and complement module absent from ruminant cargo. A parallel layer of inflammation-annotated EV-microRNAs showed heterogeneous conservation across species and converged on TLR/NF-κB-related immune regulation. Milk-EV immunity is organized on two axes—a conserved innate scaffold shared across species and a divergent, largely human adaptive-immune fraction—clarifying which cargo is a candidate cross-species biomarker and which may underlie species-specific immune transfer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic and Epigenetic Insights into Extracellular Vesicles)
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