Mitochondrial cargo quality determines the paracrine effects of extracellular vesicles derived from vascular endothelial cells - 07/01/26

Abstract |
Cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EV) are mediators of intercellular communication with increased circulating levels of endothelial cell-derived EV (EC-EV) reported in cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The EC-EV ability to elicit either detrimental or restorative effects on target EC is thought to be, in part, due to horizontal transfer of their mitochondrial cargo. To understand the role of mitochondrial cargo in EC-EV paracrine effects, large EV were collected from media of cultured human EC, and the number of mitochondria-carrying EV (mitoEV), EV mitochondrial cargo mass, and mitoEV quality/polarization were quantified. EC activation with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α caused an increased release rate of EV (TNF-EV), including mitoEV that carried a larger and more depolarized mitochondrial cargo, compared to EV released from control EC (C-EV). EC co-treatment with TNF-α and the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant MitoTEMPO restored both the mitochondrial cargo quality and the number of mitoEV carrying polarized mitochondria to levels similar to C-EV. TNF-EV, but not C-EV, dose-dependently upregulated inflammatory gene expression in target naïve EC. Fluorescence microscopy showed the EV mitochondrial cargo to transfer and colocalize with the target EC mitochondrial network. Mitochondrial cargo depolarization of C-EV using carbonyl cyanide p-(trifluoromethoxy)phenylhydrazone was sufficient for those EV to trigger inflammation in target naïve EC. In conclusion, the mitochondrial redox state of donor EC regulates mitoEV mitochondrial cargo quality that, at least in part, determines their capacity to cause target EC dysfunction and promote CVD. The mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ m ) in EC-mitoEV may be a new biomarker and therapeutic target in vascular biology and medicine.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Graphical Abstract |
Highlights |
• | Endothelial cells (EC) release extracellular vesicles (EV) with mitochondrial cargo. |
• | Donated EV mitochondrial cargo colocalizes with recipient EC mitochondrial network. |
• | EV mitochondrial cargo membrane potential can be quantified using flow cytometry. |
• | EV can induce inflammatory gene expression depending on cargo membrane potential. |
• | Antioxidants can be used to preserve the EV mitochondrial cargo membrane potential. |
Abbreviations : EV, EC, EC-EV, CVD, MitoEV, TNF-α, TNF-EV, C-EV, FCCP, ΔΨ m , lEV, sEV, iCM, MSC, ROS, OGD, OCR, LPS, MROS, FITC, APC, RBC, HUVEC, PBS, MT, PS, dEV, NucDNA, MtDNA, β2M, CYTB, MT-TL1, ND1, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, MCP-1, IL-8, GAPDH, ACTB, ANOVA, MtDAMP, mPTP, NF-κB, ETC, ECAR
Keywords : Vascular endothelial cell, Extracellular vesicles, Mitochondria, Mitochondrial transfer, Mitochondrial membrane potential, Inflammation
Plan
Vol 193
Article 118751- décembre 2025 Retour au numéroBienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
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