Extracellular Vesicles and Viruses: Two Intertwined Entities

Viruses share many attributes in common with extracellular vesicles (EVs). The cellular machinery that is used for EV production, packaging of substrates and secretion is also commonly manipulated by viruses for replication, assembly and egress. Viruses can increase EV production or manipulate EVs to spread their own genetic material or proteins, while EVs can play a key role in regulating viral infections by transporting immunomodulatory molecules and viral antigens to initiate antiviral immune responses. Ultimately, the interactions between EVs and viruses are highly interconnected, which has led to interesting discoveries in their associated roles in the progression of different diseases, as well as the new promise of combinational therapeutics. In this review, we summarize the relationships between viruses and EVs and discuss major developments from the past five years in the engineering of virus-EV therapies.

Automated summary

Viruses and extracellular vesicles (EVs) share common attributes. The cellular machinery used for EV production, packaging, and secretion is also manipulated by viruses for replication and spread. Viruses can increase EV production or manipulate EVs to spread their own genetic material or proteins, while EVs can play a role in regulating viral infections. The interactions between EVs and viruses have led to interesting discoveries in disease progression and the potential of combinational therapeutics. This review summarizes the relationships between viruses and EVs and discusses recent developments in virus-EV therapies.