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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Mar 5.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Immunol. 2014 Mar;14(3):195–208. doi: 10.1038/nri3622

Figure 2. Role of extracellular vesicles in Ag-presentation for cellular immunity.

Figure 2

Professional APCs (i.e. DCs) present p-MHC complexes derived from captured exosomes. EVs retained on the APC surface present their p-MHC complexes directly to T cells, although the costimulatory molecules are provided by the APC. Alternatively, internalized EVs transfer their Ag-peptides to MHC molecules of the host APCs. The host MHC molecules loaded with the exosome-derived Ag-peptide are then transported to the APC surface for presentation to T cells. The APCs also release EVs able to regulate Ag-specific immune responses. Although for only MHC Class-II complexes are shown in fig. 2, a similar process occurs for exosomal MHC Class-I for regulation of CD8+ cells.