The Role of Exosomes and Their Cargos in the Mechanism, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation

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  Figure 1. Biogenesis of exosomes and non-coding RNAs. (A) Biogenesis of exosomes. Formation of exosomes begins with invagination of the plasma membrane. This process produces early sorting endosomes (ESEs) with cargos of what had been extracellular material. After cargos are transferred to and from other membranous structures, ESEs become late sorting endosomes (LSEs), whose secondary invagination forms intraluminal vesicles (ILVs—the future exosomes) that give rise to multivesicular bodies (MVBs). Finally, MVBs are transferred to and dock on the plasma membrane, resulting in release of the exosomes. The exosomes usually contain mRNA, proteins, and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). (B) Biogenesis and functional mechanism of microRNAs. Primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) are transcribed and cleaved by the microprocessor complex to form precursor miRNAs (pre-miRNAs). Pre-miRNAs are then transported into the cytoplasm and further processed by DICER or co-factors, including the trans-activation response RNA-binding protein (TRBP). Mature miRNAs in the cytoplasm are transported to the RNA-induced silencing complex…

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  Figure 2. Advantages of applying exosomes to the diagnosis and treatment of atrial fibrillation. Current diagnosis and treatment methods for AF have many limitations. Exosomes have become a focus of cardiovascular research. Due to their many advantages, exosomes are thought to have the potential to overcome current limitations and provide new methods for understanding the mechanism and improving the diagnosis and treatment of AF.