Figure 5.

Melanin component of the Exophiala dermatitidis EVs is responsible for the SH-SY5Y cytotoxic effect. Morphological and molecular characterisation of E. dermatitidis EVs isolated from culture with added tricyclazole. (a) Normalized AF4-MALS fractogram (black line) of non-melanised EVs for R_geom (red circles) and number density (black circles). (b) TEM micrograph of non-melanised E. dermatitidis EVs; scale bar: 250 nm. (c) Velocity gradient centrifuged fractions of non-melanised E. dermatitidis EVs were collected and analysed for density, total EV proteins (µg), and melanin content (A₄₀₀). (d) The cytotoxic effect of non-melanised E. dermatitidis EVs, added at the indicated final concentrations, on SH-SY5Y cells, as measured by the neutral red uptake viability assay. Data are presented as the mean ± SD of triplicate samples inside one experiment where the first, uncoloured bar represents viability of control without added EVs (100%) (*p < 0.05; Kruskal–Wallis statistics).