Kalra, H. et al. PLoS Biol. 10, e1001450 (2012).

A variety of cell types produce and release extracellular vesicles (EVs) into their local environments. EVs have been found to play an important role in intercellular communication and pathogenesis. Despite the growing interest in studying EVs, it has been difficult to retrieve information about their molecular components, which may include proteins, lipids and RNAs. A large group of researchers from 53 different laboratories (Kalra et al.) is seeking to rectify this situation by introducing Vesiclepedia, an online, community-annotated compendium of molecular data from more than 300 independent studies of EVs (http://www.microvesicles.org/). All classes of EVs are included, including apoptotic bodies, exosomes, large dense-core vesicles, microparticles and shedding microvesicles. Users can query molecules of interest or browse by organism, vesicle type, molecule type or sample type.