Exosomes as Mediators of Cell-to-Cell Communication in Thyroid Disease

Figure 1

The formation and transmitting of exosomes. Exosomes are formed as the vehicles by budding into multivesicular endosomes (MVEs) and then released by the fusion of MVEs with the plasma membrane. Other MVEs proceed into lysosome pathway for degradation. Exosomes released from patient cells transmitting to recipient cells affect recipient cells by direct fusion with membrane of recipient cells, endocytic uptake, and ligand-mediated interaction. CD63, CD81, and CD9 are common surface biomarkers of exosomes. RNAs, protein, DNA, and other contents encased into exosomes can be transmitted into target cells.