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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: Mol Cancer Res. 2021 Feb 24;19(6):935–945. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-20-0952

Figure 1. Classical model of the endocytic pathway, exosome biogenesis and release.

Figure 1.

Exosome biogenesis occurs via the endosomal pathway. First, early endosomes are formed as a result of cell cytosis. During endosome maturation, the endosome membrane invaginates, giving rise to intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) which are packaged into multivesicular bodies or MVBs (also called late endosomes). The MVBs fuse with the plasma membrane and releases the ILVs, now termed exosomes, into the intracellular space. Alternatively, MVBs can fuse with lysosomes and are targeted for autophagy. The Rab family proteins play a critical role in the biogenesis of both multivesicular bodies and exosomes.