Exosomes And Microvesicles Research Articles

The emerging role of exosome and microvesicle- (EMV-) based cancer therapeutics and immunotherapy.

There is an urgent need to develop new combination therapies beyond existing surgery, radio- and chemo-therapy, perhaps initially combining chemotherapy with the targeting specificities of immunotherapy. For this, strategies to limit inflammation and immunosuppression and evasion in the tumour microenvironment are also needed. To devise effective new immunotherapies we must first understand tumour immunology, including the roles of T cells, macrophages, myeloid suppressor cells and of exosomes and microvesicles (EMVs) in promoting angiogenesis, tumour growth, drug resistance and metastasis. One promising cancer immunotherapy discussed uses cationic liposomes carrying tumour RNA (RNA-lipoplexes) to provoke a strong anti-viral-like (cytotoxic CD8+ ) anti-tumour immune response. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived EMVs, with their capacity to migrate towards inflammatory areas including solid tumours, have also been used. As tumour EMVs clearly exacerbate the tumour microenvironment, another therapy option could involve EMV removal. Affinity-based methods to deplete EMVs, including an immunodepletion, antibody-based affinity substrate, are therefore considered. Finally EMV and exosome-mimetic nanovesicles (NVs) delivery of siRNA or chemotherapeutic drugs that target tumours using peptide ligands for cognate receptors on the tumour cells are discussed. We also touch upon the reversal of drug efflux in EMVs from cancer cells which can sensitize cells to chemotherapy. The use of immunotherapy in combination with the advent of EMVs provides potent therapies to various cancers.

Novel Tools for the Study of Cell Type-Specific Exosomes and Microvesicles

Many cell types release exosomes and microvesicles (EMVs) with a size range from 0.05-5 μm, harbouring receptors, bioactive and signaling proteins, molecular mediators and nucleic acids for cell-to-cell communication. Microvesicles bud directly from the plasma membrane, in contrast to exosomes which are derived from multivesicular bodies within the cell. Increased levels of EMVs have been observed in plasma, urine and other body fluids in patients suffering from a wide range of common complex diseases, including vascular, metabolic, lung, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, chronic inflammation and cancer. EMVs may affect target cells directly by surface-bound ligands, transferred surface receptors and membrane-associated enzymes, such as glycosylphosphatidylinositolanchored proteins, or delivered cytoplasmic or membrane-associated constituents, such as cytosolic proteins, micro/mRNAs, bioactive lipids and even mitochondria. The use of EMVs as diagnostic markers for the prediction, diagnosis, therapy monitoring and prognosis of complex diseases is becoming increasingly attractive. Novel technologies for analysis of the size, density and molecular composition of EMVs are currently emerging together with methods for their improved isolation and purification out of heterogenous vesicle populations. In addition, the recent revolution in mass-spectroscopy, (micro-) flow cytometry, atomic force microscopy, nanoparticle tracking and biosensing will considerably facilitate the quantitative and qualitative analysis of all the constituents assembled in EMVs. Technologies will be preferred that provide signatures specific for EMV subsets rather than a single or a few parameter(s) averaged for the total EMV population. Those EMV signatures have to be correlated to specific disease states along cross-sectional and longitudinal clinical studies. Moreover, it has to be tested which signatures and molecular components, i.e. EMV subspecies, are most informative to obtain actionable disease information. Ultimately, the reliable, rapid and low-cost analysis of EMVs will support systems biology-based approaches for the diagnosis and therapy of complex diseases and supplements the analytical power of conventional biomarkers.

Development of glomerulus-, tubule-, and collecting duct-specific mRNA assay in human urinary exosomes and microvesicles.

Urinary exosomes and microvesicles (EMV) are promising biomarkers for renal diseases. Although the density of EMV is very low in urine, large quantity of urine can be easily obtained. In order to analyze urinary EMV mRNA, a unique filter device to adsorb urinary EMV from 10 mL urine was developed, which is far more convenient than the standard ultracentrifugation protocol. The filter part of the device is detachable and aligned to a 96-well microplate format, therefore multiple samples can be processed simultaneously in a high throughput manner following the isolation step. For EMV mRNA quantification, the EMV on the filter is lysed directly by adding lysis buffer and transferred to an oligo(dT)-immobilized microplate for mRNA isolation followed by cDNA synthesis and real-time PCR. Under the optimized assay condition, our method provided comparable or even superior results to the standard ultracentrifugation method in terms of mRNA assay sensitivity, linearity, intra-assay reproducibility, and ease of use. The assay system was applied to quantification of kidney-specific mRNAs such as NPHN and PDCN (glomerular filtration), SLC12A1 (tubular absorption), UMOD and ALB (tubular secretion), and AQP2 (collecting duct water absorption). 12-hour urine samples were collected from four healthy subjects for two weeks, and day-to-day and individual-to-individual variations were investigated. Kidney-specific genes as well as control genes (GAPDH, ACTB, etc.) were successfully detected and confirmed their stable expressions through the two-week study period. In conclusion, this method is readily available to clinical studies of kidney diseases.

Posttransplantation Bone Marrow Assessment by Quantifying Hematopoietic Cell–Derived mRNAs in Plasma Exosomes/Microvesicles

Bone marrow (BM) aspiration often can be a painful medical procedure. It is unavoidable, however, because hematopoietic precursor cells (HPC) exist only in BM and few escape to peripheral blood (PB). We hypothesized that HPCs might release exosomes and microvesicles (EMV) in BM, and the resulting EMV would penetrate into PB. Such BM-derived EMV might be identified in PB by measuring specific mRNAs produced by HPC. Human plasma was applied to an EMV-capture filter plate. After centrifugation, captured EMV were lysed on the filter plate. Resulting lysates were transferred to an oligo(dT)-immobilized microplate for mRNA isolation followed by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). Using this system, myeloid-, erythroid-, and megakaryocyte-lineage-specific poly(A)(+) mRNAs were quantified in plasma obtained from 18 patients who had undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). When fluorescent liposomes were applied to the filter plate, more than 95% of applied liposomes were absorbed. When human plasma was applied, a scanning electron microscope showed EMV-like particles on the membrane of the filter plate. After RT-PCR, various HPC-specific mRNAs were detected, and the results were equivalent to those derived from the standard ultracentrifugation method. The levels of these mRNAs were undetectable after HSCT and became detectable 1-2 weeks after HSCT, a substantially earlier time point than with traditional hematological analysis. The recovery of EMV mRNA at day 15 corresponded to the final clinical outcome at day 180. HPC-derived mRNAs in plasma EMV may represent new biomarkers for the assessment of BM condition and could reduce the necessity for frequent BM aspiration.

New Year, New Name and New Milestones Scope — Journal of Circulating Biomarkers

This editorial article introduces a renaming of journal Exosomes and Microvesicles (EXMV) to the Journal of Circulating Biomarkers with a new editorial scope, mission and our approach for the upcoming year in relation to engaging at the international level, the translational art of the study of exosomes and microvesicles, and the interface between exosomes and microvesicles, circulating tumor cells, cell-free circulating DNA and circulating protein markers in precision medicine and drug development. There is a slight change in the members of the Editors in Chief, Editorial Board and extending collaborations to international societies, such as the American Society for Exosomes and Microvesicles (ASEMV).

New Year, New Name and New Milestones Scope — Journal of Circulating Biomarkers

This editorial article introduces a renaming of journal Exosomes and Microvesicles (EXMV) to the Journal of Circulating Biomarkers with a new editorial scope, mission and our approach for the upcoming year in relation to engaging at the international level, the translational art of the study of exosomes and microvesicles, and the interface between exosomes and microvesicles, circulating tumor cells, cell-free circulating DNA and circulating protein markers in precision medicine and drug development. There is a slight change in the members of the Editors in Chief, Editorial Board and extending collaborations to international societies, such as the American Society for Exosomes and Microvesicles (ASEMV).

The cis-acting signals that target proteins to exosomes and microvesicles

Proteins bud from cells in small single-membraned vesicles (~50-250 nm) that have the same topology as the cell. Known variously as exosomes and microvesicles (EMVs), these extracellular organelles are enriched for specific proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and nucleic acids. EMV biogenesis plays critical roles in protein quality control and cell polarity, and, once released, EMVs can transmit signals and molecules to neighbouring cells via a non-viral pathway of intercellular vesicle traffic. In the present paper, we discuss the cis-acting targeting signals that target proteins to EMVs and mediate protein budding from the cell.

Announcing Exosomes and Microvesicles, the Official Journal of the American Society for Exosomes and Microvesicles

This editorial article introduces the new scientific journal Exosomes and Microvesicles (EXMV), the official journal of the American Society for Exosomes and Microvesicles (ASEMV), and describes its editorial line and mission in relation to the role of the Society, the state of the art of the study of exosomes and microvesicles, and the overall approach of the publication.

Editorial, 8 April 2013

This editorial article introduces the new scientific journal Exosomes and Microvesicles (EXMV), the official journal of the American Society for Exosomes and Microvesicles (ASEMV), and describes its editorial line and mission in relation to the role of the Society, the state of the art of the study of exosomes and microvesicles, and the overall approach of the publication.

Microvesicles/exosomes as potential novel biomarkers of metabolic diseases.

Biomarkers are of tremendous importance for the prediction, diagnosis, and observation of the therapeutic success of common complex multifactorial metabolic diseases, such as type II diabetes and obesity. However, the predictive power of the traditional biomarkers used (eg, plasma metabolites and cytokines, body parameters) is apparently not sufficient for reliable monitoring of stage-dependent pathogenesis starting with the healthy state via its initiation and development to the established disease and further progression to late clinical outcomes. Moreover, the elucidation of putative considerable differences in the underlying pathogenetic pathways (eg, related to cellular/tissue origin, epigenetic and environmental effects) within the patient population and, consequently, the differentiation between individual options for disease prevention and therapy – hallmarks of personalized medicine – plays only a minor role in the traditional biomarker concept of metabolic diseases. In contrast, multidimensional and interdependent patterns of genetic, epigenetic, and phenotypic markers presumably will add a novel quality to predictive values, provided they can be followed routinely along the complete individual disease pathway with sufficient precision. These requirements may be fulfilled by small membrane vesicles, which are so-called exosomes and microvesicles (EMVs) that are released via two distinct molecular mechanisms from a wide variety of tissue and blood cells into the circulation in response to normal and stress/pathogenic conditions and are equipped with a multitude of transmembrane, soluble and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, mRNAs, and microRNAs. Based on the currently available data, EMVs seem to reflect the diverse functional and dysfunctional states of the releasing cells and tissues along the complete individual pathogenetic pathways underlying metabolic diseases. A critical step in further validation of EMVs as biomarkers will rely on the identification of unequivocal correlations between critical disease states and specific EMV signatures, which in future may be determined in rapid and convenient fashion using nanoparticle-driven biosensors.

Release of exosomes and microvesicles harbouring specific RNAs and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins from rat and human adipocytes is controlled by histone methylation

The transfer of proteins and nucleic acids from donor to acceptor cells via small membrane vesicles has been implicated with (patho)physiological consequences. Previously the upregulation of esterification and downregulation of lipolysis in small rat adipocytes upon incubation with exosomes and microvesicles (EMVs) released from large adipocytes and harbouring the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins, Gce1 and CD73, transcripts specific for FSP27 and GPAT3, and microRNAs, miR-16 and miR-222 was demonstrated. Here the release of EMVs from large (but not small) primary and differentiated and human rat adipocytes in response to palmitate, H2O2 and the anti-diabetic sulfonylurea, glimepiride, is shown to be significantly reduced upon inhibition of histone H3 lysine9 methyltransferase G9a by trans-2-phenylcyclopropylamine (tPCPA) and histone H3 lysine4 demethylase LSD1 by BIX01294. Inhibition of EMV release by tPCPA and BIX01294 was not caused by apoptosis but accompanied by upregulation of the H2O2-induced stimulation of lipid synthesis and downregulation of lipolysis in large (but not small) primary and differentiated rat and human adipocytes. In contrast, the simultaneous presence of tPCPA and BIX-01294 had almost no effect on the induced release of EMVs and lipid metabolism. These findings argue for regulation of the release of EMVs harbouring specific GPI-anchored proteins, transcripts and microRNAs from rat and human adipocytes by histone H3 methylation at lysines 4 and 9 in interdependent fashion. Thus the EMV-mediated transfer of lipogenic and anti-lipolytic information between large and small adipocytes in response to certain physiological and pharmacological stimuli seems to be controlled by epigenetic mechanisms.

Protein Targeting to Exosomes/Microvesicles by Plasma Membrane Anchors

Animal cells secrete small vesicles, otherwise known as exosomes and microvesicles (EMVs). A short, N-terminal acylation tag can target a highly oligomeric cytoplasmic protein, TyA, into secreted vesicles (Fang, Y., Wu, N., Gan, X., Yan, W., Morell, J. C., and Gould, S. J. (2007) PLoS Biol. 5, 1267-1283). However, it is not clear whether this is true for other membrane anchors or other highly oligomeric, cytoplasmic proteins. We show here that a variety of plasma membrane anchors can target TyA-GFP to sites of vesicle budding and into EMVs, including: (i) a myristoylation tag; (ii) a phosphatidylinositol-(4,5)-bisphosphate (PIP(2))-binding domain; (iii), a phosphatidylinositol-(3,4,5)-trisphosphate-binding domain; (iv) a prenylation/palmitoylation tag, and (v) a type-1 plasma membrane protein, CD43. However, the relative budding efficiency induced by these plasma membrane anchors varied over a 10-fold range, from 100% of control (AcylTyA-GFP) for the myristoylation tag and PIP(2)-binding domain, to one-third or less for the others, respectively. Targeting TyA-GFP to endosome membranes by fusion to a phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate-binding domain induced only a slight budding of TyA-GFP, ∼2% of control, and no budding was observed when TyA-GFP was targeted to Golgi membranes via a phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate-binding domain. We also found that a plasma membrane anchor can target two other highly oligomeric, cytoplasmic proteins to EMVs. These observations support the hypothesis that plasma membrane anchors can target highly oligomeric, cytoplasmic proteins to EMVs. Our data also provide additional parallels between EMV biogenesis and retrovirus budding, as the anchors that induced the greatest budding of TyA-GFP are the same as those that mediate retrovirus budding.

Identification of an inhibitory budding signal that blocks the release of HIV particles and exosome/microvesicle proteins

Animal cells bud exosomes and microvesicles (EMVs) from endosome and plasma membranes. The combination of higher-order oligomerization and plasma membrane binding is a positive budding signal that targets diverse proteins into EMVs and retrovirus particles. Here we describe an inhibitory budding signal (IBS) from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Gag protein. This IBS was identified in the spacer peptide 2 (SP2) domain of Gag, is activated by C-terminal exposure of SP2, and mediates the severe budding defect of p6-deficient and PTAP-deficient strains of HIV. This IBS also impairs the budding of CD63 and several other viral and nonviral EMV proteins. The IBS does not prevent cargo delivery to the plasma membrane, a major site of EMV and virus budding. However, the IBS does inhibit an interaction between EMV cargo proteins and VPS4B, a component of the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) machinery. Taken together, these results demonstrate that inhibitory signals can block protein and virus budding, raise the possibility that the ESCRT machinery plays a role in EMV biogenesis, and shed new light on the role of the p6 domain and PTAP motif in the biogenesis of HIV particles.