Differential traits between microvesicles and exosomes in enterovirus infection.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes and microvesicles (MVs), are released by most cell types into the extracellular space and represent the pathophysiological condition of their source cells. Recent studies demonstrate that EVs derived from infected cells and tumors contribute to disease pathogenesis. However, very few studies have rigorously characterized exosomes and microvesicles in infectious diseases. In this study, we focused on subpopulations of EVs during the human enterovirus infection and explored the distinct traits and functions of EVs. We construct an effective immunomagnetic method to isolate exosomes and MVs from enterovirus-infected cells excluding virion. The morphology and sizes of exosomes and MVs have no significant alteration after enterovirus infection. Meanwhile, our study observed that the enterovirus infection could induce exosome secretion but not MVs. In vivo study showed that there was differential biodistribution between exosomes and MVs. Using deep RNA sequencing, we found that the cargo information in MVs rather than in exosomes could accurately reflect pathological condition of original cells. Our study demonstrated that it should be considered to use MVs as clinical diagnostics during in enterovirus infection because their composition is reflective of pathological changes.