o:25616 Extracellular vesicles and acute kidney injury: potential therapeutic avenue for renal repair and regeneration en ABSTRACT Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a sudden decline of renal function and represents a global clinical problem due to an elevated morbidity and mortality. Despite many efforts, currently there are no treatments to halt this devastating condition. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanoparticles secreted by various cell types in both physiological and pathological conditions. EVs can arise from distinct parts of the kidney and can mediate intercellular communication between various cell types along the nephron. Besides their potential as diagnostic tools, EVs have been proposed as powerful new tools for regenerative medicine and have been broadly studied as therapeutic mediators in different models of experimental AKI. In this review, we present an overview of the basic features and biological relevance of EVs, with an emphasis on their functional role in cell-to-cell communication in the kidney. We explore versatile roles of EVs in crucial pathophysiological mechanisms contributing to AKI and give a detailed description of the renoprotective effects of EVs from different origins in AKI. Finally, we explain known mechanisms of action of EVs in AKI and provide an outlook on the potential clinical translation of EVs in the setting of AKI. extracellular vesicles, exosomes, microvesicles, cellular communication, acute kidney injury, therapeutic agents, renoprotection, mesenchymal stem cells, cell-free therapeutic 1552099 10.3390/ijms23073792 2022-05-24T09:47:22.471Z 44 yes 46 Maja Kosanović University of Belgrade, Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy INEP, Serbia doktor bioloških nauka 0000-0002-1143-1805 Alberto Ortiz Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Universidad Autónoma Madrid, Spain person Milica Božić Vascular and Renal Translational Research Group, Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation, Spain person Ingrid Mena Morlans Vascular and Renal Translational Research Group, Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation, Spain person Sofija Glamočlija University of Belgrade, Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy INEP, Serbia person 0000-0003-0497-5852 Bojana Milutinović University of Texas, Department of Neurosurgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA person application/pdf 1768778 https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:25616 no yes 16 70 92000001 11A29 11A2904 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 23 7 MDPI 2022