Simvastatin mediates inhibition of exosome synthesis, localization and secretion via multicomponent interventions

Discovery of exosomes as modulator of cellular communication has added a new dimension to our understanding of biological processes. Exosomes influence the biological systems by mediating trans-communication across tissues and cells, which has important implication for health and disease. In absence of well-characterized modulators of exosome biogenesis, an alternative option is to target pathways generating important exosomal components. Cholesterol represents one such essential component required for exosomal biogenesis. We initiated this study to test the hypothesis that owing to its cholesterol lowering effect, simvastatin, a HMG CoA inhibitor, might be able to alter exosome formation and secretion. Simvastatin was tested for its effect on exosome secretion under various in-vitro and in-vivo settings and was found to reduce the secretion of exosome from various cell-types. It was also found to alter the levels of various proteins important for exosome production. Murine model of Acute Airway Inflammation was used for further validation of our findings. We believe that the knowledge acquired in this study holds potential for extension to other exosome dominated pathologies and model systems.