Interactions between extracellular vesicles and hormones: review

This review explores the interaction between extracellular vesicles (EVs) and hormones, highlighting their importance in physiological and pathological conditions. As key messengers of intercellular communication, extracellular vesicles are rich in a variety of bioactive molecules and can play an important role in the in vivo environment. Hormones, as the core mediators of regulating the functions of organisms, affect the production and release of extracellular vesicles through a variety of signaling pathways, and then regulate the function of target cells. Conversely, extracellular vesicles can also carry biologically active molecules that significantly affect hormone synthesis and secretion. In this review, the effects of different hormones (such as estrogen, testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, etc.) on extracellular vesicles and the regulatory effects of extracellular vesicles on hormone secretion are discussed in detail, which reveals the potential clinical application value of this field, including the possibility of being a biomarker and a new direction of personalized medicine. Future studies are needed to further understand the molecular mechanism of this interaction to promote the development of new diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies.