Motile vesicles (MoVes) are a cancer cell migration-associated extracellular vesicle population.

Motile vesicles (MoVes) are a cancer cell migration-associated extracellular vesicle population of large EVs (2–5 μm) linked to epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

• Why it matters: The study addresses how intracellular components are incorporated into extracellular vesicles during cancer migration, a mechanism still poorly understood for EV-mediated tumor progression and communication.
• What they did: The authors identify and characterize MoVes using comparative EV analyses, ultrastructural and molecular profiling, sedimentation behavior, and live-cell imaging with scanning electron microscopy to trace their origin from trailing-edge retraction.
• The result: MoVes are actively shed during mesenchymal migration but rarely by non-transformed cells, contain genomic DNA spanning the parent genome and EMT-associated organelles/proteins, and mitochondrial cargo can enhance oxidative phosphorylation in recipient cells.