Eradication of established murine tumors using a novel cell-free vaccine: dendritic cell-derived exosomes

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells with the unique capacity to induce primary and secondary immune responses in vivo. Here, we show that DCs secrete antigen presenting vesicles, called exosomes, which express functional Major Histocompatibility Complex class I and class II, and T-cell costimulatory molecules. Tumor peptide-pulsed DC-derived exosomes prime specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in vivo and eradicate or suppress growth of established murine tumors in a T cell-dependent manner. Exosome-based cell-free vaccines represent an alternative to DC adoptive therapy for suppressing tumor growth.