Extracellular vesicles in Drosophila and mammals: Conserved mechanisms and emerging functional roles

Kyosuke Yanagawa

Norbert Perrimon

*Correspondence to: Norbert Perrimon, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. E-mail: perrimon@genetics.med.harvard.edu

EXO. 2026;1:202615. 10.70401/EXO.2026.0014

Received: March 31, 2026Accepted: June 23, 2026Published: June 23, 2026

This manuscript is made available in its unedited form to allow early access to the reported findings. Further editing will be completed before final publication. As such, the content may include errors, and standard legal disclaimers are applicable.

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-enclosed particles released by cells carrying proteins, lipids, metabolites and nucleic acids that can alter the behavior of recipient cells. In mammalian systems, EVs have been studied extensively as important mediators of intercellular and interorgan communication in development, tissue homeostasis, immunity, regeneration, metabolism, cancer and neurobiology. In parallel, Drosophila has emerged as a powerful in vivo model for EV research owing to its genetic tractability and the availability of well-established tools for studying interorgan communication. Work in Drosophila has shown that EVs participate in synaptic cargo transfer, selected developmental signaling contexts and neuronal homeostasis. Importantly, most of the pathways that regulate endosomal sorting, multivesicular body dynamics, membrane budding and vesicle secretion are conserved between flies and mammals. This review summarizes current understanding of EV nomenclature, biogenesis, cargo selection and biological function, with emphasis on points of convergence and divergence between mammalian and Drosophila systems. It further discusses the strengths and limitations of Drosophila as a model for mammalian EV biology and highlights how comparative approaches can sharpen mechanistic insight and translational EV studies.

Keywords

Extracellular vesicles, exosomes, Drosophila melanogaster, endosome, ESCRT, Rab GTPases, intercellular communication, interorgan communication

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Yanagawa K, Perrimon N. Extracellular vesicles in Drosophila and mammals: Conserved mechanisms and emerging functional roles. EXO. 2026;1:202615. https://doi.org/10.70401/EXO.2026.0014

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EXO - Beyond the Cell

Extracellular vesicles in Drosophila and mammals: Conserved mechanisms and emerging functional roles

Kyosuke Yanagawa

Norbert Perrimon

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Extracellular vesicles in Drosophila and mammals: Conserved mechanisms and emerging functional roles

Kyosuke Yanagawa

Norbert Perrimon

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