Exosomes and autophagy in ocular surface and retinal diseases: new insights into pathophysiology and treatment

BACKGROUND: Ocular surface and retinal diseases are widespread problems that cannot be ignored in today’s society. However, existing prevention and treatment still have many shortcomings and limitations, and fail to effectively hinder the occurrence and development of them. MAIN BODY: The purpose of this review is to give a detailed description of the potential mechanism of exosomes and autophagy. The eukaryotic endomembrane system refers to a range of membrane-bound organelles in the cytoplasm that are interconnected structurally and functionally, which regionalize and functionalize the cytoplasm to meet the needs of cells under different conditions. Exosomal biogenesis and autophagy are two important components of this system and are connected by lysosomal pathways. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles that contain multiple signaling molecules produced by multivesicular bodies derived from endosomes. Autophagy includes lysosome-dependent degradation and recycling pathways of cells or organelles. Recent studies have revealed that there is a common molecular mechanism between exosomes and autophagy, which have been, respectively, confirmed to involve in ocular surface and retinal diseases. CONCLUSION: The relationship between exosomes and autophagy and is mostly focused on fundus diseases, while a deeper understanding of them will provide new directions for the pathological mechanism, diagnosis, and treatment of ocular surface and retinal diseases.