Premium
Human thymic epithelial primary cells produce exosomes carrying tissue‐restricted antigens
Author(s) -
Skogberg Gabriel,
Lundberg Vanja,
Berglund Martin,
Gudmundsdottir Judith,
Telemo Esbjörn,
Lindgren Susanne,
Ekwall Olov
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
immunology and cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0818-9641
DOI - 10.1038/icb.2015.33
Subject(s) - microvesicles , antigen , primary (astronomy) , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , biology , microrna , genetics , gene , physics , astronomy
Exosomes are nano‐sized vesicles released by cells into the extracellular space and have been shown to be present in thymic tissue both in mice and in humans. The source of thymic exosomes is however still an enigma and hence it is not known whether thymic epithelial cells (TECs) are able to produce exosomes. In this work, we have cultured human TECs and isolated exosomes. These exosomes carry tissue‐restricted antigens (TRAs), for example, myelin basic protein and desmoglein 3. The presence of TRAs indicates a possible role for thymic epithelium‐derived exosomes in the selection process of thymocytes. The key contribution of these exosomes could be to disseminate self‐antigens from the thymic epithelia, thus making them more accessible to the pool of maturing thymocytes. This would increase the coverage of TRAs within the thymus, and facilitate the process of positive and negative selection.