Exosome (vesicle)
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand.(August 2020) |
Exosome (extracellular vesicle) | |
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Identifiers | |
MeSH | D055354 |
Anatomical terminology |
Exosomes, ranging in size from 30 to 150 nanometers, In multicellular organisms, exosomes and other EVs are found in biological fluids including saliva, blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid.[5] EVs have specialized functions in physiological processes, from coagulation and waste management to intercellular communication.[6]
Exosomes are formed through the inward budding of a late
EVs in circulation carry genetic material and proteins from their cell of origin, proteo-transcriptomic signatures that act as biomarkers.[7][5][6][14] In the case of cancer cells, exosomes may show differences in size, shape, morphology, and canonical markers from their donor cells. They may encapsulate relevant information that can be used for disease detection.[5][7] Consequently, there is a growing interest in clinical applications of EVs as biomarkers and therapies alike,[15] prompting establishment of an International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) and a scientific journal devoted to EVs, the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles.
Background
Exosomes were first discovered in the maturing mammalian
Exosomes contain various molecular constituents of their cell of origin, including proteins and RNA. Although the exosomal protein composition varies with the cell and tissue of origin, most exosomes contain an evolutionarily-conserved common set of protein molecules. The protein content of a single exosome, given certain assumptions of protein size and configuration, and packing parameters, can be about 20,000 molecules.
The content of exosomes changes depending on the cells of origin, and they thereby reflect their originating cells. Analysis of the dynamic variation of exosomes may provide a valuable means of monitoring diseases.
Exosomes can transfer molecules from one cell to another via
Conversely, exosome production and content may be influenced by molecular signals received by the cell of origin. As evidence for this hypothesis, tumor cells exposed to hypoxia secrete exosomes with enhanced angiogenic and metastatic potential, suggesting that tumor cells adapt to a hypoxic microenvironment by secreting exosomes to stimulate angiogenesis or facilitate metastasis to more favorable environment.[32]
Terminology
Evolving consensus in the field is that the term "exosome" should be applied strictly to an EV of endosomal origin. Since it can be difficult to prove such an origin after an EV has left the cell, variations on the term "extracellular vesicle" are often appropriate instead.[2][33]
Research
Exosomes from
In malignancies such as cancer, the regulatory circuit that guards exosome homeostasis is co-opted to promote cancer cell survival and metastasis.[46][29] In breast cancers, neratinib, a novel pan-ERBB inhibitor, is able to downmodulate the amount of HER2 released by exosomes, thus potentially reducing tumor dissemination.[47]
Urinary exosomes have also proven to be useful in the detection of many pathologies, such as genitourinary cancers and mineralocorticoid hypertension, through their protein and miRNA cargo."[48][15]
With neurodegenerative disorders, exosomes appear to play a role in the spread of alpha-synuclein, and are being actively investigated as a tool to both monitor disease progression as well as a potential vehicle for delivery of drug and stem cell based therapy.[49]
An online open access database containing genomic information for exosome content has been developed to catalyze research development within the field.[49]
Exosomes and intercellular communication
Scientists are actively researching the role that exosomes may play in cell-to-cell signaling, hypothesizing that because exosomes can merge with and release their contents into cells that are distant from their cell of origin (see
Conversely, exosome production and content may be influenced by molecular signals received by the cell of origin. As evidence for this hypothesis, tumor cells exposed to hypoxia secrete exosomes with enhanced angiogenic and metastatic potential, suggesting that tumor cells adapt to a hypoxic microenvironment by secreting exosomes to stimulate angiogenesis or facilitate metastasis to more favorable environment.[32] It has recently been shown that exosomal protein content may change during the progression of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.[53]
A study hypothesized that intercellular communication of tumor exosomes could mediate further regions of metastasis for cancer. Hypothetically, exosomes can plant tumor information, such as tainted RNA, into new cells to prepare for cancer to travel to that organ for metastasis. The study found that tumor exosomal communication has the ability to mediate metastasis to different organs. Furthermore, even when tumor cells have a disadvantage for replicating, the information planted at these new regions, organs, can aid in the expansion of organ specific metastasis.[54]
Exosomes carry cargo, which can augment innate immune responses. For example, exosomes derived from Salmonella enterica-infected macrophages but not exosomes from uninfected cells stimulate naive macrophages and dendritic cells to secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, RANTES, IL-1ra, MIP-2, CXCL1, MCP-1, sICAM-1, GM-CSF, and G-CSF. Proinflammatory effects of exosomes are partially attributed to lipopolysaccharide, which is encapsulated within exosomes.[55]
Exosomes also mediate the cross talk between the embryo and maternal compartment during implantation.They help to exchange ubiquitous protein, glycoproteins, DNA and mRNA.[56]
Exosome biogenesis, secretion, and uptake
Exosomes biogenesis
Exosome formation starts with the invagination of the multi-vesicular bodies (MVBs) or late endosomes to generate intraluminal vesicles (ILVs).[57] There are various proposed mechanisms for formation of MVBs, vesicle budding, and sorting. The most studied and well known is the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) dependent pathway. ESCRT machinery mediates the ubiquitinated pathway consisting of protein complexes; ESCRT-0, -I, -II, -III, and associated ATPase Vps4. ESCRT 0 recognizes and retains ubiquitinated proteins marked for packaging in the late endosomal membrane. ESCRT I/II recognizes the ESCRT 0 and starts creating involution of the membrane into the MVB. ESCRTIII forms a spiral-shaped structure constricting the neck. ATPase VPS4 protein drives the membrane scission.[58] Syndecan-syntenin-ALIX exosome biogenesis pathway are one of the ESCRT-independent or non-canonical pathways for exosome biogenesis.[59]
Exosome secretion
The MVBs once formed are trafficked to the internal side of the plasma membrane. These MVBs are transported to the plasma membrane leading to fusion.[57] Many studies have shown that MVBs having higher cholesterol content fuse with the plasma membrane thus releasing exosomes.[60] The Rab proteins especially Rab 7 attached to the MVB recognizes its effector receptor. The SNARE complex (soluble N- ethylmaleimide- sensitive fusion attachment protein receptor) from the MVB and the plasma membrane interacts and mediates fusion.
Exosome uptake
Specific targeting by exosomes is an active area of research. The exact mechanisms of exosome targeting is limited to a few general mechanisms like docking of the exosomes with specific proteins, sugars, and lipid, or micropinocytosis. The internalized exosomes are targeted to the endosomes which release their content in the recipient cell.[61][62]
Sorting and packaging of cargoes in exosomes
Exosomes contain different cargoes; proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. These cargoes are specifically sorted and packaged into exosomes. The contents packaged into exosomes are cell type specific and also influenced by cellular conditions.[57] Exosomal microRNAs (exomiRs) and proteins are sorted and packaged in exosomes. Villarroya-Beltri and colleagues identified a conserved GGAG specific motif, EXOmotif, in the miRNA packaged in the exosomes which was absent in the cytosolic miRNA (CLmiRNA), which binds to sumoylated heterogeneous nuclear riboprotein (hnRNP) A2B1 for exosome specific miRNA packaging[63] Proteins are packaged in ESCRT, tertraspanins, lipid- dependent mechanisms.[64] Exosomes are enriched in cholesterol, sphingomyelin, saturated phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine as compared to the plasma membrane of the cell.[64]
Isolation
The isolation and detection of exosomes has proven to be complicated.[6][65] Due to the complexity of body fluids, physical separation of exosomes from cells and similar-sized particles is challenging. Isolation of exosomes using differential ultracentrifugation results in co-isolation of protein and other contaminants and incomplete separation of vesicles from lipoproteins.[66] Combining ultracentrifugation with micro-filtration or a gradient can improve purity.[67][68] Single step isolation of extracellular vesicles by size-exclusion chromatography has been demonstrated to provide greater efficiency for recovering intact vesicles over centrifugation,[69] although a size-based technique alone will not be able to distinguish exosomes from other vesicle types.[70] To isolate a pure population of exosomes a combination of techniques is necessary, based on both physical (e.g. size, density) and biochemical parameters (e.g. presence/absence of certain proteins involved in their biogenesis).[66][71] The use of reference materials such as trackable recombinant EV will assist in mitigating technical variation introduced during sample preparation and analysis.[72][73] Novel selective isolation methodology has been using a combination of immunoaffinity chromatography and asymmetric-flow field-flow fractionation to reduce the contamination from lipoproteins and other proteins when isolating from blood plasma.[74][75]
Often, functional as well as antigenic assays are applied to derive useful information from multiple exosomes. Well-known examples of assays to detect proteins in total populations of exosomes are mass spectrometry and Western blot. However, a limitation of these methods is that contaminants may be present that affect the information obtained from such assays. Preferably, information is derived from single exosomes. Relevant properties of exosomes to detect include size, density, morphology, composition, and zeta potential.[76]
Detection
Since the diameter of exosomes is typically below 100 nm and because they have a low refractive index, exosomes are below the detection range of many currently used techniques. A number of miniaturized systems, exploiting nanotechnology and microfluidics, have been developed to expedite exosome analyses. These new systems include a microNMR device,[77] a nanoplasmonic chip,[78] and a magneto-electrochemical sensor[79] for protein profiling; and an integrated fluidic cartridge for RNA detection.[80] Flow cytometry is an optical method to detect exosomes in suspension. Nevertheless, the applicability of flow cytometry to detect single exosomes is still inadequate due to limited sensitivity and potential measurement artifacts such as swarm detection.[81] Other methods to detect single exosomes are atomic force microscopy,[82] nanoparticle tracking analysis,[83] Raman microspectroscopy,[84] tunable resistive pulse sensing, and transmission electron microscopy.[81][47]
Bioinformatics analysis
Exosomes contain RNA, proteins, lipids and metabolites that is reflective of the cell type of origin. As exosomes contain numerous proteins, RNA and lipids, large scale analysis including
Therapeutics and carriers of drugs
Researchers have also found that exosomes released from oral keratinocytes can accelerate wound healing, even when human exosomes were applied to rat wounds.[87]
Exosome-mediated delivery of superoxide dismutase extends life-span in Caenorhabditis elegans, apparently by reducing the level of reactive oxygen species.[88] Thus this system is being studied for its anti-aging potential.[88] This delivery system also improved survival under conditions of oxidative stress and heat.[88]
Unapproved marketing
Different forms of unproven exosomes are being marketed in the U.S. for a wide variety of health conditions by clinic firms, without authorization from the FDA. Often, these firms also sell non-FDA-approved stem cell injections as well. In late 2019, the FDA issued an advisory warning about noncompliant marketing of exosomes and injuries to patients in Nebraska related to injections of exosomes.[89] The agency also indicated that exosomes are officially drug products requiring pre-market approval. In 2020, the FDA cautioned several firms about marketing or use of exosomes for COVID-19 and other health conditions.[90][91][92]
See also
- Prostasomes
- Microvesicles
- Vesicles
- ExoCarta – database of molecules shown to be present in exosomes[93]
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