Summary of Prof. Yin’s CSEMV-EVCNA award lecture 2021

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been regarded as influential intracellular delivering parcels that possess tremendous potential because of their strict and complex secretion regulation processes. However, traditional detection methods cannot monitor the secretion of EVs due to their small particle diameters. Inspired by their peculiar diverse appearances and lipid membranes ingredients, we developed an innovative strategy to detect EVs in any kind of fluids by using rationally designed peptide probes that particularly recognize the highly curved surface of EVs. These peptide probes also serve as novel tools to selectively target cancerous cells with specific lipid compositions and distributions. With this strategy, we discovered a series of EV-secreting regulation mechanisms and identified their roles within physiological processes. Recently, we found that the transportation of oligodeoxynucleotides and cell division control protein 42 homolog from TLR9-activated macrophages to naïve cells via EVs exerts synergetic effects in the propagation of the intracellular immune response, which suggests a general mechanism for EV-mediated uptake of pathogen-associated molecular patterns.