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* Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY 10461;
Department of Pathology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655;
Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115; and
Department of Medicine, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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Cell-cell communication can rely on soluble mediators or direct membrane contact between the signaling and the targeting cells. Another mechanism has been recently described, which involves the release and uptake of exosomes, small vesicles, 40100 nm in diameter, secreted by different cell types and used as small packages of information to be transferred to target cells. Exosomal vesicles have been described in several bone marrow-derived cell types (8) and are well characterized in APCs (9, 10, 11, 12, 13). Because of the hemopoietic origin of microglial cells, the potential secretion of exosomal vesicles was hypothesized.
Electron microscopic analysis revealed that microglial cells produce exosomes. Their protein content was analyzed by mass spectroscopic peptide mapping, Western blotting, and enzymatic analysis. The analysis identified several proteins already reported in B cell- and dendritic cell (DC)3-derived exosomes as well as exosomal proteins not previously described, including the aminopeptidase CD13 and the lactate transporter MCT1. These results led us to test exosomal function in neuropeptide degradation, glucose catabolism, and lactate production. The ability of exosomes to carry out these processes independently highlights the existence of a novel vesicular delivery system in an organ in which cell motility is highly restricted.
| Materials and Methods |
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N9, a well-characterized murine microglial cell line (14), and LS.102.9, a well-characterized B cell line, were cultured in hybridoma-serum-free medium (Invitrogen Life Technologies). NIE-115 a neuroblastoma cell line (American Type Culture Collection) was cultured in 10% DMEM. Primary microglial cells were prepared from mixed glial culture of SJL/J mice as previously described (15).
Exosome isolation and electron microscopic analysis
Exosomes were isolated from supernatant of freshly purified microglial cells or the N9 microglial cell line by serial centrifugation or by floatation on sucrose gradient (9) and analyzed by electron microscopy or Western blot for protein staining. For large-scale preparation of exosomes, cells were grown for 2 days in serum-free medium (Invitrogen Life Technologies) starting at a concentration of 3 x 105 cells/ml. One liter of cell supernatant was filtered over 0.22 µm (11) and concentrated 10 times using ultrafiltration membranes NMWL 10000 (Millipore). Exosomes were pelleted by ultracentrifugation for 1 h at 100,000 x g and washed once with PBS. For electron microscopic analysis, exosomes were fixed in 2% PFA and loaded on Formvar/carbon-coated electron microscopic grids. Contrast was performed in 2% uranyl acetate, pH 7, and 2% methylcellulose/0.4% uranyl acetate, pH 4. Class II MHC proteins were labeled using Y3P (American Type Culture Collection) mAb or CD13 mAb (BD Pharmingen), followed by gold-protein A. Alternatively, 100 µg of exosomal proteins were loaded on 12% SDS-PAGE, and the gel was stained with Coomassie Blue for the MALDI TOF analysis.
Western blot analysis and flow cytometry
Eighty micrograms (80 µg) of total protein lysate from the exosomal preparation or N9 postnuclear supernatant was run on a 12% SDS-PAGE and transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membrane. Western blot analysis was performed using the following mAbs: Syntaxin 6, 8 and 11, Vti-1A and Vti-1B, Rab-7, Rab 11, clathrin, and dynamin (BD Transduction Laboratories); anti-mouse invariant chain (Ii) CD74 (clone In-1), lysosomal-associated membrane protein (Lamp)-1, Lamp-2, CD9, and CD63 (BD Pharmingen); anti-mouse class II MHC (clone KL-295; American Type Culture Collection); and anti-mouse cathepsin S serum (16). All secondary mAbs were HRP conjugated (BD Transduction Laboratories). Proteins were visualized by chemiluminescent detection.
CD13 surface staining on N9 and primary microglial cells was performed as previously described (15) using the anti-aminopeptidase N, FITC-labeled anti-CD13 mAb (BD Pharmingen). Class II MHC staining on N9 cells was performed using the Y3P mAb (15).
CD13 aminopeptidase activity measurements
Exosomes from N9 and LS102.9 cells were preincubated in the presence or the absence of the protease inhibitor phebestin (Sigma-Aldrich) at a final inhibitor concentration of 17 µg/ml. They were then mixed with 200 mmol of leucine-p-nitroaniline (Sigma-Aldrich) in a 96-well plate (2-µg/ml total exosomal protein in 150 µl of PBS/well). The release of p-nitroaniline at 10, 60, 120, 180, and 240 min was used to follow aminopeptidase activity by measuring the absorbance at 405 nm.
Cleavage of opioid neuropeptides by CD13
Neuropeptides methionine-enkephalin (Bachem) and leucine-enkephalin (Bachem; at a final concentration of 100 µM of each peptide) were incubated in the presence or the absence of exosomes from N9 microglial cells or LS102.9 B cells (3 µg of total protein) overnight in a total volume of 0.5 ml of PBS. Then exosomes were separated from the reaction mixture by spinning in a Microcon 10 filter apparatus (Millipore). The amount of remaining peptide was determined by reverse-phase HPLC using a C18 column and a gradient of 280% acetonitrile in 60 min.
cAMP immunoassay
Three micrograms of N9 or LS102.9 exosomal preparations were incubated with or without 1 µM leucine-enkephalin for 3 h at room temperature in 100 µl of PBS. Samples, including a 1 µM leucine-enkephalin exosome-free, positive control, were centrifuged through a Centricon membrane (10,000 cut-off; Millipore). The exosome-free flow-through for each condition was incubated in triplicate with the NIE 115 neuroblastoma cell line (CD13 negative) for 15 min at 37°C. At the end of the incubation, the NIE-115 cells were lysed in 0.1 M HCl, and the acetylated amount of cAMP present was determined by immunoassay with an anti-rabbit polyclonal Ab (R&D Systems).
| Results |
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Among the brain-resident cell types, microglial cells are unique in being derived from bone marrow. Microglia function as APCs in brain-mediated immune responses. Other APCs have been shown to produce exosomes, and the role of exosomes in ferrying MHC class II peptide complexes and other proteins to target cells has been described (12). We were interested in investigating whether microglial cells could also be a source of exosomes, and whether such exosomes could have a physiological role in CNS homeostasis.
A well-characterized murine microglial cell line, N9 (14), was grown in serum-free medium to avoid potential contamination from serum-derived vesicles. Primary microglial cells, isolated from mixed glial culture, were grown in 5% FBS previously ultracentrifuged to avoid potential contamination from serum-derived vesicles. Exosomes were isolated from culture supernatant by both serial centrifugation and flotation on a sucrose gradient. Electron microscopy revealed the presence of numerous secreted vesicles varying in size from 40 to 120 nm (Fig. 1a). These vesicles have the typical exosomal density of
1.15 g/ml and were similar in shape and dimension to the previously described exosomes derived from dendritic cells and B cells (9, 12).
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Exosomes were previously reported to be secreted from endosomal multivesicular bodies upon fusion with the plasma membrane (9). To evaluate whether microglia-derived exosomes were formed similarly, an exosomal protein lysate was probed by Western blot analysis for the presence of endosome-specific proteins. Several vSNARE proteins important for controlling endosomal trafficking were examined. Syntaxin 8, a SNARE molecule of the early/late endosomes (17), was found in the exosomal preparation as well as in the total N9 cell lysate (Fig. 1b). Syntaxins 6 (18) and 11 (19, 20), SNARE molecules of the trans-Golgi network and recycling endosomal compartments, were not detected in the exosomal preparation (Fig. 1b). Vti-1A and Vti-1B, which are Golgi/post-Golgi vesicle and late endosomal SNARE proteins (21), were present in the exosomal protein lysate (Fig. 1b). Rab 7 and Rab 11 proteins of the late endosomal compartments as well as Lamp-1 and Lamp-2 and the tetraspannin CD9 and CD63 were also detected in the exosomes (22). Clathrin, an essential component of the clathrin-coat complex found in endocytosed and post-Golgi vesicles (23), was present in the exosomal preparation, whereas dynamin, a GTPase that plays an important role in vesicle formation through its ability to tubulate and constrict membranes at the plasma membrane and trans-Golgi network (24), was not evident in the crude exosomal protein extract (Fig. 1b). Thus, as previously reported for professional APCs, microglial-derived exosomes express specific markers of late endosomes and not other subcellular compartments.
Ii, class II MHC molecules, and cathepsin S are expressed in microglial-derived exosomes
In APCs, endosomal compartments are particularly enriched for MHC class II molecules, the MHC class II-associated chaperone Ii, and several proteases important for Ii degradation and Ag processing (25, 26). Western blot analysis was performed on microglial exosomes to investigate the presence of these proteins. A crude protein extract from N9 derived-exosomes revealed the presence of the p41 isoform of Ii as well as its cleavage product, p12 (Fig. 2a) (27). The full-length p31 isoform was not detected, although its proteolytic fragment, p10, was visible. Similarly, p10 was present in sucrose gradient fractions containing exosomes (Fig. 2b). This is in accordance with the observation that exosomes originate from late endosomal compartments where partial cleavage of Ii is expected (16). Cathepsin S, the cysteine protease responsible for p10 cleavage to CLIP, was also detected by Western blot analysis (Fig. 2a). MHC class II molecules could also be detected by Western blot analysis in both total cell and exosomal protein extract (Fig. 2a). In the resting state, microglial cells have a low surface expression of MHC class II molecules (Fig. 2c). Consistent with their being nonprofessional APCs, microglia mostly up-regulate surface MHC class II in response to a 24-h stimulation with IFN-
(Fig. 2c). A similar increase was observed in an exosomal preparation derived from IFN-
-treated cells (Fig. 2d).
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Electron microscopy and Western blot analysis established that microglial secreted vesicles could be identified as exosomes. To determine the protein composition of microglial-derived exosomes, total protein extracts from exosomal preparations were run on SDS-PAGE under boiling and reducing conditions. Gel lanes were sliced into 12 fragments (a to l) according to their m.w., and proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis after trypsin digestion (Fig. 3).
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,
, and
), which are multifunctional proteins that bind and modulate the function of a wide array of cellular proteins (28). Several enzymes involved in glycolysis and lipid metabolism were also identified (Fig. 3). Integrins, such as Mac1 and Mac2 Ags, and tetraspanin proteins, such as CD9 and CD81, were expressed in microglia. Both classes of proteins are involved in Ag presentation by promoting adhesion and membrane organization in microdomains. The pattern recognition receptor CD14, important for innate immunity, was also identified by MS/MS, as was the FcR for IgE, and GP42, a membrane glycoprotein structurally related to the FcR family (29). Also notable is the presence of NAP-22, a calmodulin-associated protein previously described on the external surface of the synaptic vesicle membrane and involved in vesicle cycling (30).
Role of the exosomal CD13 aminopeptidase
A protein not previously identified in exosomes derived from B cells and DC was the aminopeptidase N or CD13 (Fig. 3). CD13 is a cell surface-bound peptidase, which cleaves N-terminal amino acids with the exceptions of proline and arginine. CD13 was detected by flow cytometric analysis on the surface of N9 cells, but not the LS 102.9 B cell line (Fig. 4a). Its expression in multivesicular endosomal compartments was confirmed by electron microscopy (Fig. 4b). By cryoimmunogold, the presence of CD13 at the limiting membrane of microglial exosomes (from both primary cultures and the N9 line) was also confirmed (Fig. 4c).
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CD13 has been implicated as an important enzyme responsible for degradation of the neuropeptides methionine- and leucine-enkephalin (31). To investigate whether exosomal CD13 was active in the degradation of these neuropeptides, cleavage was monitored by reverse phase HPLC (Fig. 5a). Methionine- and leucine-enkephalin were completely degraded after overnight incubation with exosomes from N9 cells, but remained intact after incubation with exosomes from LS102.9 cells. A shorter incubation (3 h) was sufficient to degrade >80% of 50 µM leucine-enkephalin (data not shown).
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Thus, the CD13 expressed by microglial exosomes is active in neuropeptide degradation and could have a distinct effect on local neuropeptide activity in the brain.
| Discussion |
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As additional evidence of their postulated role in neuronal homeostasis, microglial exosomes also display enzymes important for protein degradation. CD13 is an aminopeptidase that functions as a membrane ectoenzyme in removing N-terminal amino acid residues from polypeptides (36). In this report, exosomal CD13 is shown to hydrolyze leucine- and methionine-enkephalins, thus regulating the ligand concentration for opioid receptors and ultimately the neuronal levels of the second messenger cAMP. Different enzymes, including aminopeptidases (N and A) and endopeptidases (enkephalinase, dipeptidyl aminopeptidase, and angiotensin II), are involved in the brain catabolism of enkephalins. However, the major mode of enkephalin inactivation in vitro and in vivo was shown to be the release of the N-terminal tyrosine by an aminopeptidase (37). More importantly, exosomal aminopeptidase activity is 20 times higher compared with plasma membrane surface activity. The microanatomy of neuropeptide release differs from that of neurotransmitter release. Neuropeptides can be released from the neuronal soma and neuronal dendrites and at the axonal level, whereas neurotransmitters are almost uniquely released at the axonal terminal. Neurons express CD13 on the presynaptic membrane, which could control the catabolism of neuropeptides released at the synaptic level. In contrast, glial and exosomal CD13 could control the catabolism of neuropeptides released at sites distant from the synaptic membranes.
In conclusion, proteomic and functional analyses of microglial exosomes indicate that they may have a role in attending functions such as neuronal metabolic support and neuropeptide catabolism. Such functions are also provided by parental microglial cells; however, there are physiological advantages in releasing exosomes, because they are mobile in an organ in which cell mobility is greatly restricted.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Disclosures |
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| Footnotes |
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1 This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants RO1AI048832 (to L.S.), R01AI38996 (to L.J.S.), K08AI01555 (to R.J.R.), and CA86712 (to Martin E. Hemler (in support of work performed by C.S.)) and an Irene Diamond Professorship in Immunology (to L.S.). ![]()
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Laura Santambrogio, Department of Pathology. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Forchheimer 538, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, New York, NY 10461. E-mail address: lsantamb{at}aecom.yu.edu ![]()
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: DC, dendritic cell; Ii, invariant chain; MS, mass spectrometry; Lamp, lysosomal-associated membrane protein. ![]()
Received for publication December 16, 2004. Accepted for publication June 2, 2005.
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