Diverse subpopulations of vesicles secreted by different intracellular mechanisms are present in exosome preparations obtained by differential ultracentrifugation

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles of 50 to 100 nm in diameter, released by many cell types. Exosomes are formed inside the cell in intracellular endosomal compartments and are secreted upon fusion of these compartments with the plasma membrane. Cells also secrete other types of membrane vesicles, for instance, by outward budding from the plasma membrane, and although some of them clearly differ from exosomes by their structural features (larger size), others are possibly more difficult to separate. Here, using Rab27a inhibition to modulate exosome secretion, we show the existence of at least 2 distinct populations of vesicles after purification by classical ultracentrifugation from mouse tumor cell…

• AP
  Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer
• IE
  Infrastructures en Biologie Santé et Agronomie
• FD
  Fondation de France
• IN
  Institut National Du Cancer
• IC
  Institut Curie
• IO
  Institute of Cancer Research