Extracellular vesicles from seminal plasma interact with T cells in vitro and drive their differentiation into regulatory T-cells.

Seminal plasma induces immune tolerance towards paternal allogenic antigens within the female reproductive tract and during foetal development. Recent evidence suggests a role for extracellular vesicles in seminal plasma (spEVs). We isolated spEVs from seminal plasma that was donated by vasectomized men, thereby excluding any contributions from the testis or epididymis.

Proteomic Profiling of Two Distinct Populations of Extracellular Vesicles Isolated from Human Seminal Plasma.

Body fluids contain many populations of extracellular vesicles (EV) that differ in size, cellular origin, molecular composition, and biological activities. EV in seminal plasma are in majority originating from prostate epithelial cells, and hence are also referred to as prostasomes. Nevertheless, EV are also contributed by other accessory sex glands, as well as by the testis and epididymis.

Dendritic cells release exosomes together with phagocytosed pathogen; potential implications for the role of exosomes in antigen presentation.

Dendritic cells (DC) have the unique capacity to activate naïve T cells by presenting T cell receptor specific peptides from exogenously acquired antigens bound to Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules. MHC molecules are displayed on the DC plasma membrane as well as on extracellular vesicles (EV) that are released by DC, and both have antigen-presenting capacities. However, the physiological role of antigen presentation by EV is still unclear.

A novel three step protocol to isolate extracellular vesicles from plasma or cell culture medium with both high yield and purity.

Extracellular vesicles (EV) are membrane encapsulated nanoparticles that can function in intercellular communication, and their presence in biofluids can be indicative for (patho)physiological conditions. Studies aiming to resolve functionalities of EV or to discover EV-associated biomarkers for disease in liquid biopsies are hampered by limitations of current protocols to isolate EV from biofluids or cell culture medium. EV isolation is complicated by the >10-fold numerical excess of other types of particles, including lipoproteins and protein complexes.

Bystander T-Cells Support Clonal T-Cell Activation by Controlling the Release of Dendritic Cell-Derived Immune-Stimulatory Extracellular Vesicles.

Extracellular vesicles (EV) that are released by immune cells are studied intensively for their functions in immune regulation and are scrutinized for their potential in human immunotherapy, for example against cancer. In our search for signals that stimulate the release of functional EV by dendritic cells we observed that LPS-activated human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDC) changed their morphological characteristics upon contact with non-cognate activated bystander T-cells, while non-activated bystander T-cells had no effect. Exposure to activated bystander T-cells also stimulated the release of EV-associated proteins by moDC, particularly CD63, and ICAM-1, although the extent of stimulation varied between individual donors.