Exosomes are small membrane vesicles found in cell culture supernatants and in different biological fluids. Exosomes form in a particular population of endosomes, called multivesicular bodies (MVBs), by inward budding into the lumen of the compartment. Upon fusion of MVBs with the plasma membrane, these internal vesicles are secreted. Exosomes possess a defined set of membrane and cytosolic pro...

Exosomes are small vesicles secreted from cells that participate in intercellular communication events. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that host exosome pathways are hijacked by viruses and that virally modified exosomes contribute to virus spread and immune evasion. In the case of tumor viruses, recent findings suggest that alterations in normal exosome biology may promote the development ...

Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles that mediate intercellular signaling in the brain without requiring direct contact between cells. Although exosomes have been shown to play a role in neurological diseases and in response to nerve trauma, a role for exosome-mediated signaling in brain development and function has not yet been demonstrated. Here we review data building a case for exosome...

Cancer exosomes are gaining considerable amount of attention in basic and applied clinical research for their established role in the modulation of the tumor niche, and their broad-range contribution to tumor-host cross-talk. Supporting evidence to their role in tumorigenesis comes from the observation that exosome secretion, composition and functional effects are all altered as tumors become m...

To control the quality of RNA biogenesis in the nucleus, cells use sophisticated molecular machines. These machines recognize and degrade not only RNA trimmings--the leftovers of RNA processing--but also incorrectly processed RNAs that contain defects. By using this mechanism, cells ensure that only high-quality RNAs are engaged in protein synthesis and other cellular processes. The exosome--a ...

Exosome-mediated signal transportation plays a variety of critical roles in cancer progression and metastasis. From the aspect of cancer diagnosis, circulating exosomes are ideal resources of biomarkers because molecular features of tumor cells are transcribed on them. However, isolating pure exosomes from body fluids is time-consuming and still major challenge to be addressed for comprehensive...

The isolation and analysis of microRNAs (miRNAs) contained in microvesicles and in particular nano-sized exosomes has become an increasingly important tool to understand their widespread impact in various fundamental and interactive cellular processes. Fundamental studies regarding exosome biogenesis and miRNA sorting may ultimately unravel their potency as a promising class of highly specific ...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be attracted to tumor sites and become an important component of the tumor microenvironment, thus contributing to tumor development. Emerging evidence suggests that tumor cells could transfer genetic information into MSCs through the release of exosomes. However, the molecular mechanisms by which tumor exosomes contribute to interactions between MSCs and tumor ...

Exosomes are membrane vesicles secreted by hematopoietic cells upon fusion of late multivesicular endosomes with the plasma membrane. Dendritic cell (DC)-derived exosomes induce potent antitumor immune responses in mice, resulting in the regression of established tumors (Zitvogel, L., A. Regnault, A. Lozier, J. Wolfers, C. Flament, D. Tenza, P. Ricciardi-Castagnoli, G. Raposo, and S. Amigorena....

Exosomes are both active in mediating intracellular communication and potentially present a potent cargo of disease biomarkers to an assay. The robust evaluation of exosomal markers could lead to a paradigm shift in clinical analysis and associated care. To date, much of this has been hindered by issues of sample preparation and assay signal-to-noise. We introduce here the use of ultrasensitive...