Extracellular vesicles are small extracellular membrane-enclosed vesicles with a lipid bilayer membrane containing different lipids, metabolites, proteins, RNAs and DNAs. Although discovered as early as 1967 and considered to be cell debris they were later recognized as bioactive mediators in cell-to -cell communication and critical players in both physiological and pathological conditions in the 1990s.
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Acute myocardial infarctions (AMI) and coronary artery disease (CAD) are major causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. About 10% of patients who are admitted to emergency departments with chest pain every year are diagnosed with heart attack. AMI is a condition that can be due to ischemic heart disease or coronary artery disease in conjunction, and it becomes manifest when an atherosclerotic plate rupture and a developing thrombus occludes the coronary artery totally or partially, restricting blood access to the heart.
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ENPP-1, as ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/ phosphodiesterase family member 1, is a membrane-bound glycoprotein, expressed on the outer surfaces of mineralizing cells, such as osteoblasts and chondrocytes. This protein regulates bone mineralization by hydrolyzing extracellular nucleotide triphosphates to produce pyrophosphate (PPi), which inhibits hydroxyapatite crystal deposition.
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