My name is Alja Zottel and I am postdoc researcher in prof. Komel lab at the Medical Centre for Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, UL MF. I am working in the field of exosomes in glioblastoma, especially exosomes as a delivery system. Glioblastoma, the most common primary brain tumor, is one of the deadliest cancers. It is characterized by highly immunosuppressive nature that significantly contributes to the malignancy of the disease. Therefore, I was excited to read more about the role of exosomes in glioblastoma immunosuppression in the manuscript by Azambuja et al., recently published in Neuro-Oncology Advances (https://doi.org/10.1093/noajnl/vdaa056).

The authors showed that exosomes carry several inhibitory proteins, such as FasL, TRAIL, CTLA-4, CD39 and CD73. In vitro, exosomes suppressed the activity of different immune cells and were able to polarize M1 macrophages towards immunosuppressive M2 phenotype by modulating NF-κB pathway. The scientists also examined the effect of exosomes in vivo and showed they decreased the number of M1 macrophages and increased the number of M2 macrophages in mice. The results overall illustrate that glioblastoma-derived exosomes stimulate immunosuppression of the tumor.

By Alja Zottel.

All are invited to attend ISEV2021 Annual Meeting, which will happen virtually from 18^th-21^st May 2021. Sessions and topics of the Meeting include: EV biomarkers; EV-based therapeutics; EVs of specific cells, organs, diseases, and organisms; Fundamental biology and function of EVs; Technologies and Methods.

IMPORTANT DATES AND LINKS:
At the moment Late Breaking Submission site is opened and will close on March 1st 2021. More information: https://na.eventscloud.com/website/16865/abstracts-3/.
You can register for the Meeting here: https://na.eventscloud.com/website/16865/reginfo/. Early registration ends on March 11th 2021.

The Meeting will be accompanied by an Education Day, where lecturers present the overview of the chosen EV-subfield. This year’s topics of the Education Day include: Isolation & Characterization of EVs; Methodologies for studying EV biogenesis&fate; Specific Methodologies applied to biofluid and specific organisms; Therapeutic and diagnostic use of EVs. Education Day will take place on Wednesday 12^th May. ISEV2021 Full Conference Attendees will have full access to Education Day, there is also a possibility to attend the Education Day only.

More information is available at the Meeting website: https://na.eventscloud.com/website/16865/home/.

Infectious Diseases and Extracellular Vesicles: an ISEV Meeting will be held virtually January 25-28, 2021.
Sessions and topics include EVs and COVID-19, EVs and viruses, non-viral infectious diseases, and methods and technologies in the study of EVs in infectious diseases.

More information is available at the meeting website: https://www.isev.org/event/isevidmeeting.

When: Thursday, December 10^th, 2020, 14.00-18.00 CET
Where: virtually, via Webex interface

You are kindly invited to attend the yearly meeting of the Slovenian network for extracellular vesicles SiN-EV on the topic: “Improving rigour and standardisation of extracellular vesicle clinical studies“.

In the first part (14-16.10h CET), international experts on extracellular vesicles will present their work: Kenneth W. Witwer, Gabriella Pocsfalvi, Alicia Llorente, Elena S. Martens-Uzunova, An Hendrix.

In the second part (16.30-18.00h CET), hands-on workshop on EV-TRACK database (https://evtrack.org/) will be organised, with a focus on how to submit your research and improve its impact and reach (PhD students and postdocs are especially invited).

The detailed program is attached. The language of the meeting is English.

The deadline for registration is Monday, December 7th, on the following link https://forms.gle/YHRNsZumwrCFGv3r5. Registration to only one or both parts of the meeting is possible. We will send the link to access the meeting and workshop to your e-mail one day before the event.

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Extracellular vesicles are a heterogeneous population of membrane bound particles with specific molecular composition, which are released from cells and accumulate in various body fluids in humans. They are an important communication vehicle in physiological processes and various pathological conditions, which is driving enormous interest for human diagnostics and therapeutic applications.

SiN-EV is the Slovenian network of students, researchers and clinicians interested in the field of extracellular vesicles. Our aim is to locally facilitate high quality, high impact EV research through fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, infrastructure building and training. We also facilitate dissemination of SiN-EV member achievements to international scientific community, local institutional bodies and lay public.

To become a member, please contact us at sin-ev@mf.uni-lj.si.

Metka Lenassi,
SiN-EV President

Katja Goričar,
Web-site and social media coordinator

Marija Holcar,
News and events coordinator