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Extracellular Vesicles: the Next Frontier in Pregnancy Research

  • Pregnancy: Review
  • Published:
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Abstract

Extracellular vehicles (EVs) have been involved in several aspects of pregnancy, including endometrial receptivity, embryo implantation, and embryo-maternal communication showing them associated with pregnancy disorders, such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, and preterm birth. Further research is warranted to fully comprehend the exact pathophysiological roles of EVs and to develop new therapies targeting EVs thereby improving pregnancy outcomes. Herein, we review the recent knowledge on the multifaceted roles of EVs during pregnancy and address the majority of the molecular interactions between EVs, maternal, and fetal cells with an emphasis on disorders of pregnancy under the influence of EVs. Moreover, we also discuss its applications in clinical trials followed by prospects.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the vice-chancellor of the University of Narowal, Narowal, Pakistan, for providing support for the accomplishment of this study.

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Author notes

  1. Ali Afzal, Madeeha Khan, Zaman Gul and Rameen Asif contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Medicine and Cancer Therapeutics Lab, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Ali Afzal, Rameen Asif & Sara Shahzaman

  2. College of Allied Health Sciences, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore, Pakistan

    Madeeha Khan

  3. Institute of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Zaman Gul

  4. Department of Zoology, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan

    Asia Parveen

  5. Center for Applied Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Muhammad Imran

  6. Institute of Translational Medicine, Medical College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China

    Ali Afzal & Muhammad Babar Khawar

  7. Applied Molecular Biology & Biomedicine Lab, Department of Zoology, University of Narowal, Narowal, Pakistan

    Muhammad Babar Khawar

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  1. Ali Afzal
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  2. Madeeha Khan
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Contributions

AA and MK: data curation and writing—original draft preparation. ZG and RA: visualization and methodology. SS, AP, and MI: editing, writing—reviewing. MBK: supervision, conceptualization, and administration.

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Correspondence to Muhammad Babar Khawar.

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Afzal, A., Khan, M., Gul, Z. et al. Extracellular Vesicles: the Next Frontier in Pregnancy Research. Reprod. Sci. 31, 1204–1214 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-023-01434-2

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