Poor exercise capacity is the most powerful predictor of mortality and there is evidence for the prescription of exercise as therapy for many diseases. There has been an increasing appreciation that exercise transiently stimulates the release of a host of systemic factors into circulation, termed ‘myokines’1. Inter-tissue communication during exercise is mediated, in part, by extracellular vesicles (EVs)2, a heterogeneous group of lipid bound structures present in biological fluids. EVs are considered as an additional mechanism for intercellular communication, allowing cells to exchange proteins, lipids and genetic material. We have been studying the role of EVs as a potential mechanism for the protective effect of exercise in a range of diseases including breast cancer and cadiometabolic diseases. These data will be discussed at this meeting.
1 Pedersen, B. K. & Febbraio, M. A. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 8, 457-465, (2012).
2 Whitham, M. et al. Cell Metab. 27, 237-251, (2018).