Identification of exosomal surface markers as potential biomarkers for the differentiation of acute pulmonary infections

Respiratory infections like community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) are frequent causes of emergency room presentations, but sometimes difficult to differentiate by signs and symptoms. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are known as small nano- to micrometer-sized membrane particles that are secreted by eukaryotic cells during physiological and pathophysiological processes. They carry a huge subset of biomolecules as intravesicular cargo or on their surface that exert versatile extracellular and intracellular functions. Previous studies of human blood-derived EVs have shown that composition and cargo of those EVs can be altered under different disease conditions, thereby considering them as great potential biomarkers for disease identification and differentiation.