Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Comprehensive Autopsy Program for Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis
Published on: July 19, 2019
Abnormal B-Cell Exosome Proapoptotic and Antiapoptotic Cargo in Multiple Sclerosis: Potential Implication in
Gautier Breville1,2, Ayman Rezk1,2, Samuel Weissman1,2
1Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Background And Objectives:
Compartmentalized CNS inflammation involving B cells is implicated in gray matter injury and disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS). Products secreted by B cells of patients with MS can kill oligodendrocytes and neurons, a cytotoxicity conferred by their exosome-enriched extracellular vesicle (Ex En) fraction.
Methods:
To explore the potential molecular mediators of this cytotoxicity, we profiled proteomic and transcriptomic cargo of Ex En isolated from B cells of patients with treatment-naive MS and matched healthy controls.
Results:
MS B-cell-derived Ex En appeared enriched in cell-death-associated proteins (including fibrinogen, complement C9, APP, and SPARC) and deficient in cell-survival-associated proteins (such as galectin-3). Abnormal enrichment for cell-death proteins was supported by gene set enrichment analysis. Protein pathway analysis revealed densely connected prodeath modules in the MS B-cell-derived Ex En, contrasting with homeostatic signatures in controls. Transcriptomic analysis further revealed that Ex En of MS B cells appeared to carry reduced levels of miRNAs (miR-182, miR-212, and miR-1270) known to inhibit apoptosis.
Discussion:
Our findings indicate that B-cell-derived Ex En of patients with MS, previously shown to impair neuronal and glial survival, harbor an abnormal cytotoxic molecular profile that may contribute to CNS-compartmentalized injury and progressive MS biology.
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Exosomes
Stahl et al. discovered exosomes in 1983, but the exosomes were initially considered waste products released from the...
Multiple Sclerosis l: Introduction
Mesenchymal Stem Cells
RNA Splicing
The Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
The Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
