Edveena Hanser

Abstract Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as essential drivers in disease progression and promising biomarkers across various disease conditions, including autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA is characterized by chronic inflammation driven by patient-specific cellular sub-phenotypes within the synovium.

Macrophages play an important role in the pathogenesis of RA. Depending on the local microenvironment, they can be polarized toward either proinflammatory M1 or anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages [20, 21]. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the phenotypical and functional plasticity of predifferentiated M1 and M2 macrophage subtypes under conditions associated with RA, such as the presence of abundant TLR agonists.