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Review
. 2020 Aug:63:104-110.
doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.03.013. Epub 2020 May 5.

Mechanisms for biogenesis and release of neuronal extracellular vesicles

Cassandra R Blanchette  1 , Avital A Rodal  2
Affiliations
Review

Mechanisms for biogenesis and release of neuronal extracellular vesicles

Cassandra R Blanchette et al. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

Neurons release membrane-bound extracellular vesicles (EVs) carrying proteins, nucleic acids, and other cargoes to mediate neuronal development, plasticity, inflammation, regeneration, and degeneration. Functional studies and therapeutic interventions into EV-dependent processes will require a deep understanding of how neuronal EVs are formed and released. However, unraveling EV biogenesis and trafficking mechanisms is challenging, since there are multiple pathways governing generation of different types of EVs, which overlap mechanistically with each other, as well as with intracellular endolysosomal trafficking pathways. Further, neurons present special considerations for EVs due to their extreme morphologies and specialization for membrane traffic. Here, we review recent work elucidating neuronal pathways that regulate EV biogenesis and release, with the goal of identifying directed strategies for experimental and therapeutic targeting of specific types of EVs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests

☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Membrane trafficking pathways controlling neuronal EV biogenesis and release.
Blue text indicates subcellular compartments; Red text indicates membrane traffic machinery; Black text indicates EV cargoes. (A) Packaging and release of EV cargoes at the Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction. (B) Diverse mechanisms for generating ILVs may work together or independently. It remains unknown if distinct EV subtypes form within a single MVB, or in MVBs dedicated to specific cargoes. (C) Alternative pathways for EV release from neurons. Abbreviations: Cargoes (ART: AXL, RAB18, and TMED10 EVs (contain SHH), APP-CTF: Amyloid precursor protein C-terminal fragment, 2-AG: endocannabinoid 2-arachadonoylglycerol, BMP: bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate). Compartments (EE: early endosome, MVB: multivesicular body, ILV: intralumenal vesicle, EV: extracellular vesicle, ER: endoplasmic reticulum).
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