Membrane Dynamics During Extracellular Vesicle Release and Phagocytic Clearance

Throughout life, cells communicate to coordinate the organism’s response to different stimuli. Cells release extracellular vesicles that carry signals to alter development or disease response. Released vesicles can also seal the cell membrane after damage. However, extracellular vesicles and other cellular debris need to be cleared from the environment and degraded intracellularly for normal physiology and to avoid an autoimmune response. The goal of our research is to discover how vesicles bud from the surface of cells, identify which signals extracellular vesicles send in animals, and determine how cells take up and process extracellular vesicles and other cellular debris. Defining how vesicles form is an essential first step to designing strategies to induce or suppress their formation and thereby determine their functional roles. This research could lead to new strategies to monitor or influence disease severity from cancer to inflammation and beyond.

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