Preface

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are attracting scientific interest, as an increasing number of clinical studies are evaluating exosomes for diagnostic and therapeutic uses. EVs are lipid bilayer-delimited nanoscale vesicles secreted by most cells and contain cargo, including proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and metabolites from the parent cell and mediate a horizontal transport of the cargo to recipient cells. EVs facilitate cell-to-cell contact and communication under normal and pathological conditions and play a role in the pathogenesis of many diseases. Thus, EVs have inspired a new field of research in almost every aspect of biology, including developmental, host-pathogen interactions, tissue regeneration, and cancer. This comprehensive book presents current updates in EV biology and the relationship of EVs with disease diagnosis and treatment. It delves into the biogenesis of EVs, cargo loading, composition of EVs, their interactions with cell membranes, EV isolation, and future directions to overcome current hurdles associated with liquid biopsy. It further elaborates the scientific advances in characterizing and engineering EVs for biomarker discovery and disease diagnosis, prognosis, therapeutic application, and theranostics. The book also examines the role of EVs in the comprehension of inflammation, stress resistance, and vascular integrity. Chapters address the role of EVs in embryonic development, HIV-1, reproductive issues, and associated clinical translation. Additionally, the book examines the role of EVs produced from protozoan parasites in host immunomodulation, pathogenesis, and disease progression, and presents information on novel immunotherapeutic models.

Recent studies strongly emphasize the pathogenic and translational potential of EVs in cancer. This book describes the potential diagnostic implications and molecular characterization of EVs in various cancers and concepts for using exosomes as nanocarriers for therapeutic medicines. Cancer cells actively discharge EVs (tumor-derived EVs) into biological fluids, which mediate enhanced immunosuppression, angiogenesis, metastasis, and metabolic reprogramming. Liquid biopsy has enormous promise as a diagnostic and therapeutic monitoring tool and may soon replace invasively collected tissue samples-based diagnostics. The book highlights the significance of EVs in cancer treatment resistance, especially with radiotherapy and immunotherapy, and their potential role as prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers. It also discusses the status of EVs in clinical trials in multiple cancers like breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Finally, it also identifies the loopholes for clinical translation of EVs and points out potential future research directions for therapeutic translation and cancer therapy. This book is a useful resource for biologists, clinicians, and translational scientists.

> **Manash K. Paul** Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, USA

Section 1 Introduction
