Bioaffinity Recognition of Extracellular Vesicle Glycosylations

: Islam, Khirul; Leivo, Janne

: Rilla, Kirsi

: 1

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH

: 2024

: Extracellular Vesicles as Matrix Messengers

: Biology of Extracellular Matrix

: 15

: 243

: 265

: 978-3-031-68810-2

: 978-3-031-68811-9

: 0887-3224

: 2191-1959

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-68811-9_10

: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-68811-9_10

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are rapidly gaining attention for their functional role in intercellular communication and their potential value as noninvasive biomarkers of various pathologies. EV glycosylations have been identified as potent functional molecules that govern the vesicles’ biological roles and dictate their pathophysiological relevance. In this chapter, we review the glycosylation landscape of EVs and their biological function, along with the analytical tools used to study them. In addition, the most widely used carbohydrate-specific natural and synthetic affinity scaffolds currently used to study the glycosylations on EVs are described. The development of specific bioaffinity tools, such as glycan-specific antibodies, remains challenging due to the inherent low immunogenicity of glycans. Alternative strategies, including the use of recombinant immunoglobulins, aptamers, and molecular imprinted polymer derivatives, are actively explored to overcome these hurdles and harness the full potential of EV glycosylations in both basic glycobiology research and clinical applications.

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The authors would like to acknowledge Research Council of Finland’s Flagship InFLAMES (decision numbers: 337530 and 357910).