外泌体是由细胞膜与多囊泡体融合并通过胞吐作用释放到胞外的纳米尺寸的脂双层囊泡, 在细胞间通信作为媒介发挥重要作用。微RNA (microRNA, miRNA)是一类由18~24个核苷酸组成的内源性非编码RNA, 在转录后基因表达中充当重要的调节因子。肺纤维化是一种不可逆、进行性的慢性肺部疾病, 多项研究表明外泌体miRNA异常表达与肺纤维化发生发展息息相关。本文主要对外泌体及miRNA的生物学特性进行概述, 讨论外泌体miRNA在肺纤维化疾病中展现出的重要作用以及其作为新型生物标志物在肺纤维化疾病中的巨大潜力。

Exosomes are nano-sized lipid bilayer vesicles that are fused by the cell membrane and multi-vesicles and released into the extracellular space by exocytosis. Exosomes play an important role in intercel-lular communication. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous non-coding RNAs consisting of 18~24 nucleotides. miRNAs play an important role in the regulation of post-transcriptional gene expression. Pul-monary fibrosis is an irreversible and progressive chronic lung disease. Many studies have shown that abnor-mal expression of exosomal miRNAs is closely related to the development of pulmonary fibrosis. This review focuses on the biological characteristics of exosomes and miRNAs, and discusses the important roles of exo-somal miRNAs in pulmonary fibrosis and their potential as a novel biomarker in this disease.