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SELECTBIO Conferences Biofluid Biopsies

Jan Lötvall's Biography



Jan Lötvall, Professor, University of Gothenburg; Founding President of ISEV; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Extracellular Vesicles

Jan Lötvall is Professor at the Institute of Medicine at Göteborg University since 2002 where he directs a research laboratory studying extracellular vesicles. He is a medical specialist in both Clinical Allergy and Clinical Pharmacology, and has a long-term experience in translational studies in primarily inflammation, but also cancer. He was first elected President of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV, 2011-2016), a rapidly growing non-profit organisation in the field of exosomes, microvesicles and other extracellular vesicles (www.isev.org; >1100 members). The research line focusing on extracellular vesicle biology has received extensive international recognition, as the lab was first to discover the ability of exosomes to shuttle RNA between cells in 2007. During the period of May 2016 to January 2018, JL served as Chief Scientist at Codiak BioSciences, a startup biotech company focusing on developing exosomes as a therapeutic platform. From January 2018, JL was the founding editor of the journals “Clinical and Translational Allergy” (2011, IF 3.239) and Journal of Extracellular Vesicles (JEV: IF 14.9). JL is the current Editor-in-Chief of JEV since August 2019. He is also the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Exocure Biosciences, a privately held vesicle therapeutics company.

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Exosomes and Other Extracellular Vesicles as Future Extracellular RNA Biomarkers

Tuesday, 28 October 2014 at 14:15

Add to Calendar ▼2014-10-28 14:15:002014-10-28 15:15:00Europe/LondonExosomes and Other Extracellular Vesicles as Future Extracellular RNA BiomarkersSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Most cells have the capacity to release different types of extracellular vesicles, that typically have an intact cell membrane which protects the cytoplasmic vesicular cargo. These extracellular vesicles include exosomes, microvesicles as well as apoptotic bodies, where the exosomes are the true nano-sized vesicles, with a diameter of 40-100 nm. In 2007, we discovered that exosomes released from mast cells contain both microRNA and mRNA, which subsequently can be transferred from one cell to another to mediate biological effect. Subsequently, it has been shown that exosomes are present in all human body fluids investigated, including serum, plasma, saliva, semen and breast milk. Importantly, the RNA content in exosomes changes when the cells undergo for example oxidative stress, or are transformed to malignant cells.  Importantly, different extracellular vesicles contain different RNA species, as well documented in different studies using different models. Therefore, cell may mediate multiple RNA-mediated signals by shuttling also other extracellular vesicles than exosomes between cells. Also this aspect will be discussed during the presentation.  The exosomal RNA content is also being investigated as biomarkers for different diseases, including malignancies. Several companies are currently investigating the RNA content of exosomes and other extracellular vesicles, to diagnose diseases and to monitor the effects of therapy.  Lastly, exosomes or similar vesicles could be utilized to deliver therapeutic RNAi molecules to diseased cells / tissues.  Thus, siRNA or other RNAi molecules could at least in theory be loaded into exosomes and be delivered either directly into a tumor area to treat that tumor, or systemically if harboring targeting molecules.  Exosomal shuttle RNA promises to be one of the most exciting research field in biology and medicine over the decades to come.


Add to Calendar ▼2014-10-27 00:00:002014-10-28 00:00:00Europe/LondonBiofluid BiopsiesSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com