Milk exosomes: beyond dietary microRNAs

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles deliver a variety of cargos to recipient cells, including the delivery of cargos in dietary vesicles from bovine milk to non-bovine species. The rate of discovery in this important line of research is slowed by a controversy whether the delivery and bioactivity of a single class of vesicle cargos, microRNAs, are real or not. This opinion paper argues that the evidence in support of the bioavailability of microRNAs encapsulated in dietary exosomes outweighs the evidence produced by scholars doubting that phenomenon is real. Importantly, this paper posits that the time is ripe to look beyond microRNA cargos and pursue innovative pathways through which dietary exosomes alter metabolism. Here, we highlight potentially fruitful lines of exploration.