Barcoding sEVs

     Cells are known to communicate with each other through extracellular vesicles, specifically small extracellular vesicles (sEVs). These sEVs are like couriers for cells, delivering a package from to another. This package can be RNA, proteins, or lipids, which are needed for a cell to complete its functions. However, due to SEVS travelling from cell to cell, they are also the reason for diseases spreading throughout the body as it infects more and more cells. While we know what sEVs are and what they do, we do not know how they are formed and released, until now. To solve this mystery, team based in Japan developed the CIBER system, CRISPR-assisted individually barcoded sEV-based release regulator. 

    Given its name, the CIBER system is reliant on CRISPR gene editing. CRISPR works by using an enzyme called Cas that is embedded with gRNA (CRISPR guide RNA) in order to target specific sequences in DNA to cut. CIBER uses this method to target a specific gene which can them be barcoded into sEVS the cell makes. By tracking this gene, the researchers could track the amount of SEVs released by the cell. This system also made it easier to run several experiments at once since each population of sEVs could be easily identified since they would be barcoded with different genes. This new system has now paved a new path to further the understanding of what exactly sEVs are.

    I think cell communication has always been an interesting topic when learning about cell biology. Cells have kind of developed their own language with receptors and proteins that allow for them to regulate what they need and what they don't need. Small EVs were something that I wished I got to learn more about and it turns out that there is still a lot about sEVs that we collectively do not really know. I look forward to this and what possible applications it can have.