Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33693030›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in molecular biosciences2021

Circulating Exosomes Are Strongly Involved in SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Elettra Barberis, Virginia V Vanella, Marco Falasca, Valeria Caneapero, Giuseppe Cappellano, Davide Raineri, Marco Ghirimoldi, Veronica De Giorgis, Chiara Puricelli, Rosanna Vaschetto and 10 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in molecular biosciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 147 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
147citing papers in PubMed
14.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

147 citing papers in PubMed, 205 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
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  5. Article
  6. Current trends in exosomes as therapeutic drug delivery systems.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. 80 years of extracellular vesicles: from discovery to clinical translation.Extracellular vesicles and circulating nucleic acids · 2026
    Review
  11. Article
  12. CD169Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. The Central Role of Macrophages in Long COVID Pathophysiology.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Review

87 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Elettra BarberisDepartment of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Virginia V VanellaDepartment of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Marco FalascaMetabolic Signalling Group, Curtin Medical School, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia.
Valeria CaneaperoDepartment of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Giuseppe CappellanoCenter for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Davide RaineriCenter for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Marco GhirimoldiDepartment of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Veronica De GiorgisDepartment of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Chiara PuricelliDepartment of Health Sciences, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Rosanna VaschettoDepartment of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Pier Paolo SainaghiInternal and Emergency Medicine Departments, Department of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Stefania BrunoCittà della Salute e della Scienza and Molecular Biotechnology Center, Torino, Italy.
Antonio SicaDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Umberto DianzaniDepartment of Health Sciences, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Roberta RollaDepartment of Health Sciences, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Annalisa ChiocchettiDepartment of Health Sciences, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Vincenzo CantaluppiDepartment of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Gianluca BaldanziDepartment of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Emilio MarengoCenter for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Marcello ManfrediDepartment of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy.
Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” · ITAzienda Ospedaliera Citta' della Salute e della Scienza di Torino · ITAzienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Maggiore della Carita · ITCurtin University · AUIstituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Knowledge of the host response to the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 remains limited, hindering the understanding of COVID-19 pathogenesis and the development of therapeutic strategies. During the course of a viral infection, host cells release exosomes and other extracellular vesicles carrying viral and host components that can modulate the immune response. The present study used a shotgun proteomic approach to map the host circulating exosomes' response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We investigated how SARS-CoV-2 infection modulates exosome content, exosomes' involvement in disease progression, and the potential use of plasma exosomes as biomarkers of disease severity. A proteomic analysis of patient-derived exosomes identified several molecules involved in the immune response, inflammation, and activation of the coagulation and complement pathways, which are the main mechanisms of COVID-19-associated tissue damage and multiple organ dysfunctions. In addition, several potential biomarkers-such as fibrinogen, fibronectin, complement C1r subcomponent and serum amyloid P-component-were shown to have a diagnostic feature presenting an area under the curve (AUC) of almost 1. Proteins correlating with disease severity were also detected. Moreover, for the first time, we identified the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the exosomal cargo, which suggests that the virus might use the endocytosis route to spread infection. Our findings indicate circulating exosomes' significant contribution to several processes-such as inflammation, coagulation, and immunomodulation-during SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study's data are available via ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD021144.

Indexed as

biomarkershost-responseplasma exosomesproteomicsSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID33693030
PMCPMC7937875
OpenAlexW3132267651

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.