The immunogenicity of dendritic cell-derived exosomes

Exosome production represents an alternate endocytic pathway for secretion. Multivesicular endosomes (MVE) fuse with the plasma membrane expelling internal vesicles or exosomes from cells. Exosome production has been recently described for immune cells including B cells, dendritic cells (DC), mast cells, macrophages and T cells. Exosomes derived from some DC populations stimulate T lymphocyte proliferation in vitro and have potent capacity to generate anti-tumour immune responses in vivo. These reported studies have involved in vitro grown mature DC expanded from precursors with cytokines. However, immature DC produce higher numbers of exosomes than mature DC and this is thought to be due to a reduction in endocytosis as DC mature, associated with reduced reformation of MVE and reduced exosome formation.