“…Consequently, our knowledge regarding Gram-positive EVs still remains limited (Brown et al, 2015 ). Since 2009, a few works reported the production and secretion of EVs by S. aureus , with particular emphasis on their protein content characterization and their impact on host cells (Lee et al, 2009 , 2013b ; Gurung et al, 2011 ; Hong et al, 2011 ; Kim et al, 2012 ; Thay et al, 2013 ; Choi et al, 2015 ; Jeon et al, 2016 ; Bae et al, 2017 ; He et al, 2017 ; Im et al, 2017 ; Jun et al, 2017 ; Askarian et al, 2018 ). In analogy with Gram-negative bacteria S. aureus EVs harbor, inter alia , numerous virulence factors, can have cytotoxic effects on host cells in vitro (Gurung et al, 2011 ; Jeon et al, 2016 ) and trigger a pro-inflammatory response both in vitro and in vivo (Hong et al, 2011 ; Kim et al, 2012 ).…”