Extracellular vesicles in the context of chagas disease - A systematic review

• Published in: Acta tropica Vol. 242; p. 106899
• Main Authors: Garcez, Emãnuella Melgaço, Gomes, Nélio, Moraes, Aline Silva, Pogue, Robert, Uenishi, Rosa Harumi, Hecht, Mariana, Carvalho, Juliana Lott
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-06-2023
• Subjects: Animals; Biological Transport; Chagas disease; Chagas Disease - parasitology; Extracellular vesicles; Extracellular Vesicles - metabolism; Humans; Mammals; Proteins - metabolism; Trypanosoma cruzi; CD; OSF; DTU; PICOS; Extracellular vesicles; Chagas disease; PRISMA; α-Gal; TcαGalVes; Trypanosoma cruzi; JBI; EV; MVB; TESA; ISEV
• ISSN: 0001-706X; 1873-6254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2023.106899

•Extracellular vesicles (EVs) participate in cellular communication in chagas disease (CD).•Data pertaining EV investigation in CD has not been systematically reviewed.•Tc-EV characterization is generally poor; RNA and protein cargo of Tc-EVs has been determined.•EVs support Tc infection and contribute to CD equilibrium found in asymptomatic patients.•EVs are being explored for CD diagnosis, prognosis and vaccine development.
Extracellular vesicle (EVs) traffic is considered an important cellular communication process between cells that can be part of a single organism or belong to different living beings. The relevance of EV-mediated cellular communication is increasingly studied and appreciated, especially in relation to pathological conditions, including parasitic disorders, in which the EV release and uptake processes have been documented. In the context of Chagas Disease (CD), EVs have been explored, however, current data have not been systematically revised in order to provide an overview of the published literature and the main results obtained thus far. In this systematic review, 25 studies involving the investigation of EVs in CD were identified. The studies involved Trypanosoma cruzi -derived EVs (Tc-EVs), as well as EVs derived from T. cruzi-infected mammalian cells, mainly isolated by ultracentrifugation and poorly characterized. The objectives of the identified studies included the characterization of the protein and RNA cargo of Tc-EVs, as well as investigation of EVs in parasitic infections and immune-related processes. Overall, our systematic review reveals that EVs play critical roles in several mechanisms related to the interaction between T. cruzi and mammalian hosts, their contribution to immune system evasion by the parasite, and to chronic inflammation in the host. Future studies will benefit from the consolidation of isolation and characterization methods, as well as the elucidation of the role of EVs in CD.