Mitochondria-Derived Vesicles and Mitochondrial Extracellular Vesicles in Health and Cardiovascular Disease

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Mitochondria-derived vesicles (MDVs) and mitochondrial extracellular vesicles (mitoEVs) represent 2 related extensions of mitochondrial dynamics that link organelle maintenance to communication within and between cells. MDVs are small vesicles that bud directly from mitochondria, selectively packaging components of the outer membrane, inner membrane, or matrix. They serve as a localized quality control mechanism that removes oxidized or damaged material without engaging the entire mitophagic machinery. After budding, MDVs typically enter the endolysosomal pathway, where they can fuse with late endosomes or lysosomes for cargo degradation. A subset of MDVs also targets other organelles, particularly peroxisomes, contributing to organelle crosstalk, lipid metabolism, and redox balance. By contrast, mitoEVs released into the extracellular space contain intact functional mitochondria, mitochondrial contents (proteins, DNAs/RNAs, lipids, and so on), and nonmitochondrial cargo (ie, mRNAs, noncoding RNAs, and so on), which can be transferred to recipient cells and subsequently induce either pathogenic or beneficial outcomes. Therefore, mitoEVs have been implicated in metabolic cooperation, immune regulation, tissue remodeling, and aging. Accordingly, this review summarizes recent progress on the diverse mechanisms for the biogenesis of MDVs and mitoEVs, as well as available protocols

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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