Exosomes are secreted, single membrane organelles of ∼100 nm diameter. Their biogenesis is typically thought to occur in a two-step process involving (1) outward vesicle budding at limiting membranes of endosomes (outward = away from the cytoplasm), which generates intralumenal vesicles, followed by (2) endosome–plasma membrane fusion, which releases these internal vesicles into the extracellular milieu as exosomes. In this study, we present evidence that certain cells, including Jurkat T cells, possess discrete domains of plasma membrane that are enriched for exosomal and endosomal proteins, retain the endosomal property of outward vesicle budding, and serve as sites of immediate exosome biogenesis. It has been hypothesized that retroviruses utilize the exosome biogenesis pathway for the formation of infectious particles. In support of this, we find that Jurkat T cells direct the key budding factor of HIV, HIV Gag, to these endosome-like domains of plasma membrane and secrete HIV Gag from the cell in exosomes.

Nanoparticles in a biological milieu are known to form a sufficiently long-lived and well-organized 'corona' of biomolecules to confer a biological identity to the particle. Because this nanoparticle-biomolecule complex interacts with cells and biological barriers, potentially engaging with different biological pathways, it is important to clarify the presentation of functional biomolecular motifs at its interface. Here, we demonstrate that by using antibody-labelled gold nanoparticles, differential centrifugal sedimentation and various imaging techniques it is possible to identify the spatial location of proteins, their functional motifs and their binding sites. We show that for transferrin-coated polystyrene nanoparticles only a minority of adsorbed proteins exhibit functional motifs and the spatial organization appears random, which is consistent, overall, with a stochastic and irreversible adsorption process. Our methods are applicable to a wide array of nanoparticles and can offer a microscopic molecular description of the biological identity of nanoparticles.

Minassian et al. report that the RH5.1/AS01 B vaccine against blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum malaria is safe and immunogenic in a phase I/IIa clinical trial. They demonstrate a significantly reduced blood-stage parasite growth rate in vaccinees following controlled human malaria infection and identify that in vitro antibody-mediated growth inhibition activity is associated with challenge outcome.

Targeted delivery of IL-12 might turn this cytokine into a safer, more effective cancer therapeutic. Here we describe a novel immunocytokine, NHS-IL12, consisting of two molecules of IL-12 fused to a tumor necrosis-targeting human IgG1 (NHS76). The addition of the human IgG1 moiety resulted in a longer plasma half-life of NHS-IL12 than recombinant IL-12, and a selective targeting to murine tumors in vivo. Data from both in vitro assays using human PBMCs and in vivo primate studies showed that IFN-gamma production by immune cells is attenuated following treatment with the immunocytokine, suggesting an improved toxicity profile than seen with recombinant IL-12 alone. NHS-IL12 was superior to recombinant IL-12 when evaluated as an anti-tumor agent in three murine tumor models. Mechanistic studies utilizing immune cell subset-depleting antibodies, flow cytometric methods, and in vitro cytotoxicity and ELISA assays all indicated that the anti-tumor effects of NHS-IL12 were primarily CD8+ T cell-dependent and likely IL-12-mediated. Combining NHS-IL12 treatment with a cancer vaccine, radiation, or chemotherapy resulted in greater anti-tumor effects than each individual therapy alone. These preclinical findings provide a rationale for the clinical testing of this immunocytokine, both as a single agent and in combination with vaccines, radiation and chemotherapy.