Exosome Tethering Requires Tetherin Homodimerisation

Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles that originate as intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) within multivesicular bodies (MVBs). Upon fusion of MVBs with the plasma membrane, ILVs are released into the extracellular environment as exosomes. Although exosomes can diffuse away from their cells of origin, the expression of the antiviral restriction factor tetherin promotes their retention at the cell surface, thereby limiting their release into the extracellular milieu. Tetherin plays an analogous role in retaining other extracellular particles, including many enveloped viruses and midbody remnants. We hypothesised that tetherin physically links exosomes to the cell surface through specific structural features of the protein. To test this, we combined biochemical assays with live-cell and ultrastructural imaging approaches to determine which elements of tetherin are required for exosome retention. Our analysis shows that the formation of tetherin homodimers is essential for exosome tethering. Mutations in regions or motifs of tetherin predicted to impact tetherin traffic to ILVs have only minor impacts on exosome tethering, suggesting redundancy in the mechanisms of tetherin traffic to ILVs, and subsequently, to exosomes. Collectively, these findings provide the first molecular insights into the mechanism that govern exosome tethering.