Most cells in the body send out little messengers called extracellular vesicles that carry proteins, lipids, and other bioactive molecules to other cells, playing an important role in intercellular communication. But healthy cells are not the only ones that rely on extracellular vesicles. Cancer cells do, too. Small extracellular vesicles that are shed from tumor cells contribute to how cancer spreads to healthy tissue.

These small messengers could be a key to developing new cancer-fighting drugs and therapies, but it has been unclear how exactly the recipient cells absorb the extracellular vesicles and their cargo. Recent research used state-of-the-art imaging to observe the uptake of tumor-derived small extracellular vesicles by target cells. The results were published in Nature Communications on March 12, 2025.

“In recent years, extracellular vesicles have attracted attention as a carrier of intercellular signaling. However, the mechanism of their internalization by target cells has not been well understood. We wanted to elucidate the pathway and mechanism of internalization of extracellular vesicles by target cells,” said Kenichi G. N. Suzuki, a professor at the Institute for Glyco-core Research at Gifu University in Gifu and a chief at the Division of Advanced Bioimaging, National Cancer Center Research Institute in Tokyo, Japan.