Exomeres: A New Member of Extracellular Vesicles Family

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are described as membranous vesicles that are secreted by various cell types. EVs can be categorised as exosomes, ectosomes, apoptotic bodies, large oncosomes and migrasomes. EVs are heterogeneous in nature according to their origin, mode of release, size, and biochemical contents. Herein, we discuss a recently discovered subpopulation of EVs called ‘exomeres’. Unlike the other subtypes of EVs, exomeres are defined as non-membranous nanovesicles with a size ≤50 nm. They can be isolated using asymmetric-flow field-flow fractionation as well as ultracentrifugation. The cargo of exomeres are beginning to be unravelled and are highlighted to be enriched with proteins implicated in regulating metabolic pathways. Consistent with other types of EVs, exomeres also contain nucleic acids and lipids which can be delivered to recipient cells. These discoveries highlight the complex heterogeneity of EVs and thereby necessitates further attention to understand the nature of each subpopulation more exclusively. Overall, this chapter describes the current knowledge on exomeres.