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Extracellular Vesicles in Microbes, Pathogens and Infectious Diseases 2.0

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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: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 3699

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Franklin W.N. Chow

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Guest Editor

Department of Health Technology and Informatics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Interests: emerging infectious diseases; host-pathogen interactions; extracellular vesicles; pathogen genomics and evolution; RNA Biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Russell M. Morphew

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Life Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, UK
Interests: protein function and interactions; microbial-host interactions; proteomic technologies; mass spectrometry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is a continuation of the 2022 Special Issue “Extracellular Vesicles in Microbes, Pathogens and Infectious Diseases”.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanosized lipid bilayer particles that are naturally released from almost all types of cells. EVs are produced as end products of secretion by both pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms, including archaea, bacteria, fungi, and parasites, as a means for cell-free intercellular communication. Microbial EVs are usually involved in either quorum sensing between the same or different species, or in tuning the microenvironments to benefit the survival of microbes. In pathogenic microorganisms, their EVs modulate the host immune responses to evade elimination from the host.

Infectious diseases are disorders in humans, animals, and plants caused by pathogenic microbes. Microbial EVs, other than facilitating the survival of pathogens in the host and acting as a decoy to antibiotics as a drug resistance mechanism, can also be used for therapeutics and diagnostics for infectious diseases. They can be used as vaccine candidates, drug-targeting and RNAi communication vehicles, as well as biomarkers for disease diagnosis.

This Special Issue of IJMS is focused on extracellular vesicles in microbes, pathogens and infectious diseases. This Special Issue welcomes papers covering microbial EVs’ characterization, quantification, purification, their cargos, and the elucidation of their biogenesis and roles during infections.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

Genomics and transcriptomics (including small RNA);
Therapeutics and diagnostics in infectious diseases;
Immunology;
Vaccine candidate;
Drug resistance;
Drug targeting;
Characterization and purifications;
Virulence and pathogenesis;
Host–pathogen interactions;
Cross-species interactions;
RNAi-mediated communications;
Adaptation to the environment.

Dr. Franklin W.N. Chow
Dr. Russell M. Morphew
Guest Editors

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

extracellular vesicles
infectious diseases
host–pathogen interaction
pathogens
viruses
fungi
parasites
helminths
bacteria
animals
plants
virulence
genomics
transcriptomics
small RNA

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 3122 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Refining Immunogenicity through Intradermal Delivery of Outer Membrane Vesicles against Shigella flexneri in Mice

by Yadira Pastor, Alba Calvo, Josune Salvador-Erro and Carlos Gamazo

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(23), 16910; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242316910 - 29 Nov 2023

Viewed by 771

Abstract

Shigellosis remains a global health concern, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Despite improvements in sanitation, the absence of a licensed vaccine for human use has prompted global health organizations to support the development of a safe and effective multivalent vaccine that is cost-effective and accessible for limited-resource regions. Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) have emerged in recent years as an alternative to live attenuated or whole-inactivated vaccines due to their immunogenicity and self-adjuvating properties. Previous works have demonstrated the safety and protective capacity of OMVs against Shigella flexneri infection in mouse models when administered through mucosal or intradermal routes. However, some immunological properties, such as the cellular response or cross-protection among different Shigella strains, remained unexplored. In this study, we demonstrate that intradermal immunization of OMVs with needle-free devices recruits a high number of immune cells in the dermis, leading to a robust cellular response marked by antigen-specific cytokine release and activation of effector CD4 T cells. Additionally, functional antibodies are generated, neutralizing various Shigella serotypes, suggesting cross-protective capacity. These findings highlight the potential of OMVs as a promising vaccine platform against shigellosis and support intradermal administration as a simple and painless vaccination strategy to address this health challenge. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extracellular Vesicles in Microbes, Pathogens and Infectious Diseases 2.0)

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24 pages, 4783 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exosomal MicroRNA and Protein Profiles of Hepatitis B Virus-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

by Valentina K. Todorova, Stephanie D. Byrum, Samuel G. Mackintosh, Azemat Jamshidi-Parsian, Allen J. Gies, Charity L. Washam, Samir V. Jenkins, Timothy Spiva, Emily Bowman, Nathan S. Reyna, Robert J. Griffin and Issam Makhoul

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(17), 13098; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241713098 - 23 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1610

Abstract

Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a main risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes, play an important role in tumor development and metastasis, including regulation of HBV-related HCC. In this study, we have characterized exosome microRNA and proteins released in vitro from hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC cell lines SNU-423 and SNU-182 and immortalized normal hepatocyte cell lines (THLE2 and THLE3) using microRNA sequencing and mass spectrometry. Bioinformatics, including functional enrichment and network analysis, combined with survival analysis using data related to HCC in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, were applied to examine the prognostic significance of the results. More than 40 microRNAs and 200 proteins were significantly dysregulated (p < 0.05) in the exosomes released from HCC cells in comparison with the normal liver cells. The functional analysis of the differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs (i.e., mir-483, mir-133a, mir-34a, mir-155, mir-183, mir-182), their predicted targets, and exosomal differentially expressed proteins (i.e., POSTN, STAM, EXOC8, SNX9, COL1A2, IDH1, FN1) showed correlation with pathways associated with HBV, virus activity and invasion, exosome formation and adhesion, and exogenous protein binding. The results from this study may help in our understanding of the role of HBV infection in the development of HCC and in the development of new targets for treatment or non-invasive predictive biomarkers of HCC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extracellular Vesicles in Microbes, Pathogens and Infectious Diseases 2.0)

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Review

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21 pages, 978 KiB

Open AccessReview

Extracellular Vesicles in Flaviviridae Pathogenesis: Their Roles in Viral Transmission, Immune Evasion, and Inflammation

by Anastasia Latanova, Vadim Karpov and Elizaveta Starodubova

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(4), 2144; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25042144 - 10 Feb 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 929

Abstract

The members of the Flaviviridae family are becoming an emerging threat for public health, causing an increasing number of infections each year and requiring effective treatment. The consequences of these infections can be severe and include liver inflammation with subsequent carcinogenesis, endothelial damage with hemorrhage, neuroinflammation, and, in some cases, death. The mechanisms of Flaviviridae pathogenesis are being actively investigated, but there are still many gaps in their understanding. Extracellular vesicles may play important roles in these mechanisms, and, therefore, this topic deserves detailed research. Recent data have revealed the involvement of extracellular vesicles in steps of Flaviviridae pathogenesis such as transmission, immune evasion, and inflammation, which is critical for disease establishment. This review covers recent papers on the roles of extracellular vesicles in the pathogenesis of Flaviviridae and includes examples of clinical applications of the accumulated data. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extracellular Vesicles in Microbes, Pathogens and Infectious Diseases 2.0)

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