Exosomes and Their Roles in Diabetes Mellitus
Just like a stuffed suitcase unloaded from the belly of a cargo plane, molecular backpacks called exosomes are constantly produced from the cells of the body. Each backpack is filled with a variety of materials that might be opened by another cell. By sending these biological packages, cells communicate with each other through shared proteins and genetic materials.
Due to the unique function of exosomes as intercellular messengers, the ability to change the biological activity of recipient cells, and their therapeutic potential in disease diagnosis and targeted drug delivery, the relationship between exosomes and different kinds of diseases has received widespread attention in recent years. One of them is diabetes, as exosomes are found to play an important role in insulin sensitivity, glucose homeostasis, and vascular endothelial function.
Diabetes is a common metabolic disorder, which is characterized by dysfunction of insulin secretion by pancreatic? cells and varying degrees of insulin lack. Organs such as the pancreas, liver, muscle, or fat are all involved, and communication between these organs is a key to maintain glucose homeostasis.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have different pathogenesis. T1DM is due to the gradual loss of insulin-producing cells, resulting in low or none secretion of insulin. T2DM is due to the body's production of insulin resistance. Although the pathogenesis of T1DM and T2DM is different, their pathogenic factors, pathophysiology, disease progression and complications are related.
Exosomes and T1DM
Exosomes contain powerful immunostimulatory substances. Exosomes released by insulinomas can stimulate the autoimmune response of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. This research shows that exosomes are the autoantigen carriers of NOD mice and have strong immune activity, which may be the trigger of autoimmunity in NOD mice.
Islet cell transplantation is an effective method for the treatment of autoimmune T1DM. Explants that are specifically released into the blood circulation by islet transplantation are of potential diagnostic value in distinguishing recurrent autoimmune and immune rejection from islet?-cell injury. Biological markers that can be used in the diagnosis of islet transplantation. Exosomes isolated from MSCs have immunomodulatory effects and can improve islet function by increasing the number of regulatory T cells and their anti-inflammatory products IL-4 and IL-10, so they can be used to treat T1DM.
Exosomes and T2DM
Exosomes carry important biological information about the pathogenesis of T2DM. The exosomes and the miRNAs they carry pass from the adipose tissue through the blood and penetrate into the skeletal muscle and liver. The reaction induced during this tissue migration may directly lead to the intercellular communication of T2DM and metabolism-related disorders. The miRNA contained in the exosomes secreted by islet cells regulates?-cell function in a paracrine manner, and this situation is significantly different between normal and T2DM patients.
Due to the complexity of clinical manifestations of different types of diabetes, sometimes it cannot be identified by current laboratory methods. Therefore, it is urgent to find a marker that can reflect pathophysiological characteristics or disease progression in real time. At the same time, such markers should be cheap and easy to obtain.
"Studies have shown that exosome marker can be used for early diagnosis and staging of diabetes, and exosome itself is also a target for the treatment of diabetes." Said a scientist of Creative Biolabs, ‘more importantly, it can help to monitor the response of patients with diabetes to treatment and thus provide personalized treatment."