We have been focusing on the mechanistic studies of extracellular vesicles (EVs) by investigating their roles in innate immunity and cell-cell communications. For example, we have found that transport of ODN and Cdc42 from TLR9-activated macrophages to naïve cells via EVs exerts synergetic effects in propagation of the intracellular immune response, suggesting a general mechanism of EV-mediated uptake of pathogen-associated molecular patterns. Furthermore, these EVs may render an emerging disease biomarker that possesses tremendous theranostic potential. Nonetheless, the secretion of EVs cannot be monitored using traditional detection methods due to their small sizes. We developed an innovative strategy to target and capture EVs from various metastatic cancers using rationally designed peptide probes that recognize highly curved surface of these disease related EVs. These peptide probes also provide tools to selectively target cancer cells with specific lipid compositions and distributions, laying the foundation for further development of the next-generation of diagnostics and prognostics.查看更多