REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Membrane Traffic and Organelle Dynamics
This article is part of the Research TopicExtracellular Vesicles in Regenerative Medicine: From Mechanistic Insights to Clinical TranslationView all articles
Brain-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Potentially Mediate Crosstalk with Peripheral Organs in Neurodegenerative Diseases
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Kentucky Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology, Lexington, United States
- 2University of Kentucky, Lexington, United States
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Brain-Derived Extracellular vesicles (BDEVs) are emerging mediators of intra- and interorgan communication in neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Parkinson’s Disease (PD). A growing body of evidence suggests that BDEVs play an important role in modulating intercellular communication within the CNS in the pathogenesis of many NDs. By transporting non-coding RNAs (eg. miRNAs) and important pathological proteins, BDEVs also influence peripheral organs and contribute to the progression of disease in the central nervous system (CNS). This review extends the understanding of NDs beyond solely brain dysfunction and gives a novel framework for the progression of these diseases, uniquely emphasizing the currently underexplored mechanisms by which BDEV-mediated communication exacerbates or potentially initiates peripheral dysfunction or complications. It maps and clarifies the specific and potential mechanisms by which CNS-originating EV activity proliferates systemic dysfunction, presenting new opportunities and areas for therapeutic and diagnostic treatments for NDs. These findings are contextualized across multiple NDs, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Huntington’s Disease (HD), and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), by incorporating data on dysregulated BDEV miRNAs and toxic proteins to map the pathway of BDEV-mediated disease spread.
Keywords: Brain, extracellular vesicles, inter-organ communication, Neurodegenerative disorders, Peripheral organs
Received: 21 Sep 2025; Accepted: 17 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hamdalla, Bhaskar and Tian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Changhai Tian
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