Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2013 Oct 30:7:182.
doi: 10.3389/fncel.2013.00182.

Extracellular vesicles as mediators of neuron-glia communication

Carsten Frühbeis  1 , Dominik Fröhlich, Wen Ping Kuo, Eva-Maria Krämer-Albers
Affiliations
Review

Extracellular vesicles as mediators of neuron-glia communication

Carsten Frühbeis et al. Front Cell Neurosci. .

Abstract

In the nervous system, glia cells maintain homeostasis, synthesize myelin, provide metabolic support, and participate in immune defense. The communication between glia and neurons is essential to synchronize these diverse functions with brain activity. Evidence is accumulating that secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs), such as exosomes and shedding microvesicles, are key players in intercellular signaling. The cells of the nervous system secrete EVs, which potentially carry protein and RNA cargo from one cell to another. After delivery, the cargo has the ability to modify the _target cell phenotype. Here, we review the recent advances in understanding the role of EV secretion by astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system. Current work has demonstrated that oligodendrocytes transfer exosomes to neurons as a result of neurotransmitter signaling suggesting that these vesicles may mediate glial support of neurons.

Keywords: astrocytes; exosomes; extracellular vesicles; microglia; neuron–glia communication; neuroprotection; oligodendrocytes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Adaxonal localization of MVBs and uptake of oligodendroglial exosomes by neurons. (A) Electron micrograph of myelinated axons in the optic nerve labeled with antibodies against PLP (scale bar 200 nm, courtesy of Wiebke Möbius). (B) Confocal stack of primary cortical neurons (red) that internalized exosomes, labeled with PLP-EGFP and SIRT2-EYFP (green). Nuclei are blue, scale bar 20 μm.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Oligodendroglial exosomes in neuron-glia communication. (1) Electrically active axons release glutamate that provokes Ca2+ entry through oligodendroglial glutamate receptors. (2) Elevation of intracellular Ca2+ levels triggers exosome release from oligodendrocytes. (3) Neurons internalize exosomes and use their cargo.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Al-Nedawi K., Meehan B., Micallef J., Lhotak V., May L., Guha A., et al. (2008). Intercellular transfer of the oncogenic receptor EGFRvIII by microvesicles derived from tumour cells. Nat. Cell Biol. 10 619–624 10.1038/ncb1725 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Antonucci F., Turola E., Riganti L., Caleo M., Gabrielli M., Perrotta C., et al. (2012). Microvesicles released from microglia stimulate synaptic activity via enhanced sphingolipid metabolism. EMBO J. 31 1231–1240 10.1038/emboj.2011.489 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baietti M. F., Zhang Z., Mortier E., Melchior A., Degeest G., Geeraerts A., et al. (2012). Syndecan-syntenin-ALIX regulates the biogenesis of exosomes. Nat. Cell Biol. 14 677–685 10.1038/ncb2502 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bakhti M., Winter C., Simons M. (2010). Inhibition of myelin membrane sheath formation by oligodendrocyte-derived exosome-like vesicles. J. Biol. Chem. 286 787–796 10.1074/jbc.M110.190009 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Basso M., Pozzi S., Tortarolo M., Fiordaliso F., Bisighini C., Pasetto L., et al. (2013). Mutant copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) induces protein secretion pathway alterations and exosome release in astrocytes: implications for disease spreading and motor neuron pathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J. Biol. Chem. 288 15699–15711 10.1074/jbc.M112.425066 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
  NODES
INTERN 2
twitter 2