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Updated: Sep 29, 2026

Purification of the Membrane Compartment for Endoplasmic Reticulum-associated Degradation of Exogenous Antigens in Cross-presentation
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The plasticity of multivesicular bodies and the regulation of antigen presentation

Jean-Luc Murk1, Willem Stoorvogel, Monique J Kleijmeer

  • 1Department of Cell Biology, Center for Biomedical Genetics and Institute of Biomembranes, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology
|September 24, 2002
PubMed

Multivesicular bodies (MVBs) are ubiquitous endocytic organelles containing numerous 50-80 nm vesicles. MVBs are very dynamic in shape and function. In antigen presenting cells (APCs), MVBs play a central role in the loading of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) with antigenic peptides. How MHC II is transported from MVBs to the cell surface is only partly understood. One way involves direct fusion of MVBs with the plasma membrane. As a consequence, their internal vesicles are secreted as so-called exosomes. An alternative has been illustrated in maturing dendritic cells (DCs). Here, MVBs are reshaped into long tubules by back fusion of the internal vesicles with the MVB limiting membrane. Vesicles derived from the tips of these tubules then carry MHC II to the cell surface.

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