SummaryMultivesicular bodies (MVBs) are intracellular endosomal organelles characterized by multiple internal vesicles that are enclosed within a single outer membrane. MVBs were initially regarded as purely prelysosomal structures along the degradative endosomal pathway of internalized proteins. MVBs are now known to be involved in numerous endocytic and trafficking functions, including protein sorting, recycling, transport, storage, and release. This review of neuronal MVBs summarizes their research history, morphology, distribution, accumulation of cargo and constitutive proteins, transport, and theories of functions of MVBs in neurons and glia. Due to their complex morphologies, neurons have expanded trafficking and signaling needs, beyond those of "geometrically simpler" cells, but it is not known whether neuronal MVBs perform additional transport and signaling functions. This review examines the concept of compartment-specific MVB functions in endosomal protein trafficking and signaling within synapses, axons, dendrites and cell bodies. We critically evaluate reports of the accumulation of neuronal MVBs based on evidence of stress-induced MVB formation. Furthermore, we discuss potential functions of neuronal and glial MVBs in development, in dystrophic neuritic syndromes, injury, disease, and aging. MVBs may play a role in Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Niemann-Pick diseases, some types of frontotemporal dementia, prion and virus trafficking, as well as in adaptive responses of neurons to trauma and toxin or drug exposure. Functions of MVBs in neurons have been much neglected, and major gaps in knowledge currently exist. Developing truly MVB-specific markers would help to elucidate the roles of neuronal MVBs in intra-and intercellular signaling of normal and diseased neurons.
KeywordsEndosome; Trafficking; Axonal Transport; Sorting; Release; Endocytosis; Degradation
Definition of MVBs and scope of this reviewBased on their original discovery and historical tradition, MVBs are defined -as their name implies -by morphological criteria at the ultrastructural level. MVBs appear in ultrathin sections as spherical organelles characterized by a single outer ("limiting") membrane that Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Cooney et al., 2002). The small vesicles as well as the matrix, the lumenal space between the internal vesicles, are typically clear, but they can be of varying electron densities (Roizin et al., 1967). The internal vesicles can have heterogeneous sizes with a diameter of 50-100 nm, although they frequently are uniform in size, about 60-70 nm in...