Search

Over the last decade, research interest in defining how extracellular vesicles (EVs) shape cross-species communication has grown rapidly. Parasitic helminths, worm species found in the phyla Nematoda and Platyhelminthes, are well-recognised manipulators of host immune function and physiology. Emerging evidence supports a role for helminth-derived EVs in these processes and highlights EVs as an important participant in cross-phylum communication. While the mammalian EV field is guided by a community-agreed framework for studying EVs derived from model organisms or cell systems [e.g., Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles (MISEV)], the helminth community requires a supplementary set of principles due to the additional challenges that accompany working with such divergent organisms. These challenges include, but are not limited to, generating sufficient quantities of EVs for descriptive or functional studies, defining pan-helminth EV markers, genetically modifying these organisms, and identifying rigorous methodologies for in vitro and in vivo studies. Here, we outline best practices for those investigating the biology of helminth-derived EVs to complement the MISEV guidelines. We summarise community-agreed standards for studying EVs derived from this broad set of non-model organisms, raise awareness of issues associated with helminth EVs and provide future perspectives for how progress in the field will be achieved.

Extracellular micro- and nano-scale membrane vesicles produced by different cells are recognised as an essential entity of physiological fluids in a variety of organisms and function as mediators of intercellular communication employed for the regulation of multiple systemic and local processes. In the last decade, an exponential amount of experimental work was dedicated to exploring the biogenesis and secretion mechanisms, physiological and pathological functions and potential applications of the extracellular vesicles (EVs). Noteworthy is the large heterogeneity of in vitro and in vivo models applied, technical approaches developed in these studies and the diversity of designations assigned to different or similar types of EVs. Hence, there is a clear necessity for a uniform nomenclature and standardisation of methods to isolate and characterise these vesicles. In April 2012, the first meeting of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) took place bringing together this exponentially grown scientific community. The University of Gothenburg (Krefting Research Centre) together with the Interim Board of the Society created in September 2011 (Jan Lötvall, Clotilde Théry, Xandra Breakefield, Marca Wauben, Yong Song Gho, Lawrence Rajendran, Graça Raposo, Douglas Taylor, Margareta Sjöstrand and Esbjörn Telemo) organised this fantastic event that counted 488 registered and contributing participants. This meeting report provides a retrospective summary of the broad spectrum of ISEV-2012 sessions. Again, we emphasise novel findings, discussions and decisions met by the community during the meeting.

Extracellular micro- and nano-scale membrane vesicles produced by different cells are recognized as an essential entity of physiological fluids in a variety of organisms and function as mediators of intercellular communication employed for the regulation of multiple systemic and local processes. In the last decade, an exponential amount of experimental work was dedicated to exploring the biogenesis and secretion mechanisms, physiological and pathological functions and potential applications of the extracellular vesicles (EVs). Noteworthy is the large heterogeneity of in vitro and in vivo models applied, technical approaches developed in these studies and the diversity of designations assigned to different or similar types of EVs. Hence, there is a clear necessity for a uniform nomenclature and standardization of methods to isolate and characterize these vesicles. In April 2012, the first meeting of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) took place bringing together this exponentially grown scientific community. The University of Gothenburg (Krefting Research Centre) together with the Interim Board of the Society created in September 2011 (Jan Lotvall, Clotilde Thery, Xandra Breakefield, Marca Wauben, Yong Song Gho, Lawrence Rajendran, Graca Raposo, Douglas Taylor, Margareta Sjostrand and Esbjorn Telemo) organized this fantastic event that counted 488 registered and contributing participants. This meeting report provides a retrospective summary of the broad spectrum of ISEV-2012 sessions. Again, we emphasize novel findings, discussions and decisions met by the community during the meeting. 2012 Elisa Araldi et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited