Key Points: A significant fraction of cell-free heme in plasma is contained in circulating erythrocyte MPs, particularly during hemolysis. Heme-laden MPs can transfer heme to vascular endothelium and mediate oxidative stress, vascular dysfunction, and vasoocclusions.

Patients with sickle cell disease suffer from painful crises associated with disseminated vaso-occlusions, increased circulating erythrocyte microparticles (MPs), and thrombospondin-1 (TSP1). MPs are submicron membrane vesicles shed by compromised or activated cells. We hypothesized that TSP1 mediates MP shedding and participates in vaso-occlusions. We injected TSP1 to transgenic SAD mice with sickle cell disease and characterized circulating phosphatidylserine+ MPs by FACS. TSP1 stimulated MPs in plasma and initiated vaso-occlusions within minutes. In vitro, TSP1 triggered rapid erythrocyte conversion into spicule-covered echinocytes, followed by MP shedding. MP shedding was recapitulated by peptides derived from the TSP1 carboxyterminus. We purified MPs shed by erythrocytes in vitro and administered them back to SAD mice. MPs triggered immediate renal vaso-occlusions. In vitro, MPs triggered the production of radical oxygen species by endothelial monolayers, favored erythrocyte adhesion, and induced endothelial apoptosis. MPs also compromised vasodilation in perfused microvessels. These effects were inhibited by saturating MP phosphatidylserine with annexin-V, or with inhibitors of endothelial ROS production. We conclude that TSP1 triggers erythrocyte MP shedding. These MPs induce endothelial injury and facilitate acute vaso-occlusive events in transgenic SAD mice. This work supports a novel concept that toxic erythrocyte MPs may connect sickle cell anemia to vascular disease.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are crucial elements that sustain the communication between tumor cells and their microenvironment, and have emerged as a widespread mechanism of tumor formation and metastasis. In obesity, the adipose tissue becomes hypertrophic and hyperplastic, triggering increased production of pro-inflammatory adipokines, such as tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 6, interleukin 1, and leptin. Furthermore, obese adipose tissue undergoes dysregulation in the cargo content of the released EVs, resulting in an increased content of pro-inflammatory proteins, fatty acids, and oncogenic microRNAs. These alterations drive obesity-associated inflammatory responses both locally and systemically. After being ignored for a long time, adipose tissues have recently received considerable attention as a major player in tumor microenvironment-linked obesity and cancer. The role of adipose tissue in the establishment and progression of cancer is reinforced by its high plasticity and inflammatory content. Such a relationship may be established by direct contact between adipocytes and cancer cells within the microenvironment or systemically, via EV-mediated cell-to-cell communication. Here, we highlight cues evidencing the influence of adipose tissue-derived EVs on the hallmarks of cancer, which are critical for tumor malignancy.