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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Dec 4.
Published in final edited form as: Science. 2020 Feb 7;367(6478):eaau6977. doi: 10.1126/science.aau6977

Fig. 4. Exosomes in viral infection.

Fig. 4.

Exosomes can limit or promote viral infection. Exosomal cargo such as IFNα or APOBEC3G can suppress infection by limiting viral replication or enhancing antiviral immunity. Viruses can also highjack the exosome biogenesis machinery to promote viral dissemination. Exosomes may serve as a pseudoenvelope that enhances viral entry by tetraspanins (CD81, CD9) and PtSer interaction and uptake into recipient cells and aid in evading antiviral immunity. Cotransport of a viral component (proteins and miRNA) may also enhance infectivity. Exosome-mediated transfer of viruses may participate in viral genetic cooperativity and multiplicity of infection. CMV, cytomegalovirus; HSV-1, herpes simplex virus 1.