Hegmans Joost P J J, Gerber Peter J, Lambrecht Bart N
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Methods Mol Biol. 2008;484:97-109. doi: 10.1007/978-1-59745-398-1_7.
Exosomes are small natural membrane vesicles released by a wide variety of cell types into the extracellular compartment by exocytosis. The biological functions of exosomes are only slowly unveiled, but it is clear that they serve to remove unnecessary cellular proteins (e.g., during reticulocyte maturation) and act as intercellular messengers because they fuse easily with the membranes of neighboring cells, delivering membrane and cytoplasmic proteins from one cell to another. Recent findings suggests that cell-derived vesicles (exosomes are also named membranous vesicles or microvesicles) could also induce immune tolerance, suppression of natural killer cell function, T cell apoptosis, or metastasis. For example, by secreting exosomes, tumors may be able to accomplish the loss of those antigens that may be immunogenic and capable of signaling to immune cells as well as inducing dysfunction or death of immune effector cells. On the other hand, dendritic cell-derived exosomes have the potential to be an attractive powerful immunotherapeutic tool combining the antitumor activity of dendritic cells with the advantages of a cell-free vehicle. Although the full understanding of the significance of exosomes requires additional studies, these membrane vesicles could become a new important component in orchestrating responses between cells.
外泌体是多种细胞类型通过胞吐作用释放到细胞外区室的天然小膜泡。外泌体的生物学功能才刚刚开始被揭示,但很明显它们有助于清除不必要的细胞蛋白质(例如在网织红细胞成熟过程中),并作为细胞间信使,因为它们很容易与相邻细胞的膜融合,将膜蛋白和细胞质蛋白从一个细胞传递到另一个细胞。最近的研究结果表明,细胞来源的囊泡(外泌体也被称为膜性囊泡或微囊泡)还可以诱导免疫耐受、抑制自然杀伤细胞功能、T细胞凋亡或转移。例如,肿瘤可能通过分泌外泌体,使那些可能具有免疫原性并能够向免疫细胞发出信号的抗原丧失,同时诱导免疫效应细胞功能障碍或死亡。另一方面,树突状细胞来源的外泌体有可能成为一种有吸引力的强大免疫治疗工具,将树突状细胞的抗肿瘤活性与无细胞载体的优势结合起来。尽管对外泌体重要性的全面理解还需要更多研究,但这些膜泡可能成为协调细胞间反应中的一个新的重要组成部分。