Extracellular Vesicles in Alzheimer's Disease: Friends or Foes? Focus on A beta-Vesicle Interaction

The intercellular transfer of amyloid-beta (A beta) and tau proteins has received increasing attention in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Among other transfer modes, A beta and tau dissemination has been suggested to occur through release of Extracellular Vesicles (EVs), which may facilitate delivery of pathogenic proteins over large distances. Recent evidence indicates that EVs carry on their surface, specific molecules which bind to extracellular A beta, opening the possibility that EVs may also influence A beta assembly and synaptotoxicity. In this review we focus on studies which investigated the impact of EVs in A beta-mediated neurodegeneration and showed either detrimental or protective role for EVs in the pathology.