Urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) are released from all regions of the kidney's nephron and from other cells that line the urinary tract. Extracellular vesicles retain proteomic and transcriptomic markers specific to their cell of origin and so represent a potential reservoir for kidney disease biomarker discovery. Exosomes, a subtype of uEVs, are distinguished from other vesicles by features related to their biogenesis within cells: mature multi-vesicular bodies fuse with the cellular membrane to liberate exosomes into the extracellular space. uEVs represent a novel cell signalling mechanism because they can be shuttled to a recipient cell and, through a number of proposed mechanisms, affect the recipient cell's proteome and function. Here we review the current evidence for uEV signalling along the nephron, their role in health and disease of the kidney, and their potential for clinical translation as biomarkers and therapeutics.
© 2016 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2016 The Physiological Society.