2023, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (24): 3883-3891

Exosome-mediated cellular communication: a potential biomarker for Parkinson’s disease

Wang Yiying1, Li Ruiqing1, 2, Li Jingwen1, Mei Jinjin1, Zhang Jianyun1, Zhang Lihong1, Fan Yongfu1, Guo Jian1, 2   

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Parkinson’s disease is the second largest neurodegenerative disease in the world. Both motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms seriously affect the daily life of patients. Recent studies have found that exosomes and the substances they carry are involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. It also mediates cell communication and can be used as a potential biomarker for Parkinson’s disease.  
OBJECTIVE: To explore the type and mechanism of exosome-mediated cell communication as a potential biomarker of Parkinson’s disease, to find a new target for early diagnosis and treatment, to slow down the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and provide new ideas for its diagnosis and treatment.
METHODS: The related articles included in PubMed, CNKI, WanFang, VIP, Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane, EBSCO, and SinoMed databases from January 1987 to August 2022 were searched by computer, and 76 English and 2 Chinese articles were finally included for inductive analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The exosomes transport substances to recipient cells or membrane surface through endocytosis and exocytosis membrane fusion to carry signaling factors and release them in the intercellular space and other means for the exchange of substances between cells. (2) Exosomes can participate in the pathological progress of Parkinson’s disease by mediating intercellular communication and information exchange and material transport, so they can be used as early biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease, help provide new diagnosis and treatment targets, and can be used as a diagnostic carrier for Parkinson’s disease in the future. (3) The exosomes participate in mechanism of the pathological development of Parkinson’s disease through intercellular transmission and substance transport and diffusion. The relationship between its main biomarkers and pathologic pathways is that in neurotoxicity, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, autophagy and other processes mediated by exosomes α synuclein, exosomal microRNA can target Parkinson’s disease-related genes and participate in oxidative stress, and exosomal DJ-1 protein regulates the level of cellular oxidative stress and affects cytotoxicity. Leucine-rich repetitive kinase 2 of exosomes mediates the formation and accumulation of Lewy bodies and causes neurotoxicity. The above exosomes and their carrying substances can be used as the early stage of Parkinson’s disease biomarkers. (4) At present, there are few related researches on the biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease in exosomes, but the most representative and most widely used is exosome α-synuclein. Due to the large number and variety of exosomal microRNAs, the expression and role in Parkinson’s disease are not the same, and the research has been hot in the past two years. (5) At present, related research lacks corresponding clinical verification, so it can be used as a future research direction, and the research prospect is broad. Therefore, more potential biomarkers and their mechanisms of action need to be further verified and studied, so as to provide new targets for the early diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s disease. (6) The application of exosomes in the clinical diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease still has a lot of research space and development prospects. The application of exosome-mediated cell communication in the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s disease based on clinical trials is the focus and urgent breaking point of future research.

Key words: exosome, Parkinson’s disease, cellular communication, biomarker, neurotoxicity, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, autophagy, alpha-synuclein, microRNA