Delivery with a killer message: Airway exosomes drive antiviral response.

The importance of exosomes in many facets of biology continues to grow, having been implicated in many fundamental processes of cellular and host function. Exosomes are small membrane encapsulated vesicles, typically 30-100nm in diameter and are actively secreted by most cell types studied. They contain DNA, RNA, protein and lipid cargo and have been observed to induce effects and changes in target cells when taken up.

Whilst the exosomes have in particular been studied in the context of cancer progression and biomarkers, recently it has emerged that the immune system also utilizes the unique signalling capacities of these microvesicles.

Here, Bedford et al, use IonOpticks Aurora Series columns to comprehensively characterise airway exosomes and identify the dynamic change in protein composition over the course of an influenza infection. This work has led to a greater understanding of the antiviral properties of airway exosomes and how they modulate the course of disease.

Airway Exosomes Released During Influenza Virus Infection Serve as a Key Component of the Antiviral Innate Immune Response.

Front. Immunol., 12 May 2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00887

Bedford J, Infusini G, Dagley L, Villalon-Letelier F, Zheng M, Bennett-Wood V, Reading P and Wakim L.