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Organizing Polarized Delivery of Exosomes at Synapses
Author(s) -
Mittelbrunn Maria,
VicenteManzanares Miguel,
SánchezMadrid Francisco
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
traffic
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.677
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1600-0854
pISSN - 1398-9219
DOI - 10.1111/tra.12258
Subject(s) - microvesicles , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , microrna , genetics , gene
Exosomes are extracellular vesicles that transport different molecules between cells. They are formed and stored inside multivesicular bodies ( MVB ) until they are released to the extracellular environment. MVB fuse along the plasma membrane, driving non‐polarized secretion of exosomes. However, polarized signaling potentially directs MVBs to a specific point in the plasma membrane to mediate a focal delivery of exosomes. MVB polarization occurs across a broad set of cellular situations, e.g. in immune and neuronal synapses, cell migration and in epithelial sheets. In this review, we summarize the current state of the art of polarized MVB docking and the specification of secretory sites at the plasma membrane. The current view is that MVB positioning and subsequent exosome delivery requires a polarizing, cytoskeletal dependent‐trafficking mechanism. In this context, we propose scenarios in which biochemical and mechanical signals could drive the polarized delivery of exosomes in highly polarized cells, such as lymphocytes, neurons and epithelia.