A publication in the April 23, 2019 issue of Nutrients presents new data, from the lab group of Philip Askenase (photo), MD, at the Yale University School of Medicine, describes the successful oral administration of suppressor T cell-derived exosomes strongly inhibiting immune inflammation in the skin. Exosomes are nano-sized, membrane-bounded vesicles secreted by cells, often to communicate between cells, mostly by exchange of RNAs. The article, which was included in Nutrients special issue "Cow's Milk and Allergy" is titled "Delayed-Type Hypersensitivity Underlying Casein Allergy Is Suppressed by Extracellular Vesicles Carrying miRNA-150." The results in this study were largely generated by visiting Professors Krzysztof Bryniarski and Katarzyna Nazimek from the Jagellonian College of Medicine in Krakow, Poland. The Askenase group studied allergic CD4pos T cell- and macrophage-orchestrated effector inflammation in the ear skin of mice that was strongly inhibited by oral administration of antigen-specific suppressor CD8pos T cell-derived exosomes delivering miRNA-150. Quantitated skin responses were measured kinetically over five days and the responses were to casein, a common protein of milk allergy. The antigen specificity was due to anti-casein antibody light chains coating the exosomes. This was demonstrated by flow cytometry, which also showed that the suppressive exosomes also expressed CD9, CD63, and CD81 (typical markers of classical exosomes) on their surfaces. The functioning exosomes were definitively identified by specific affinity column fractionation with beads linked to casein antigen and separately to anti-CD9. The exosomes were recovered and tested for function in vivo.Login Or Register To Read Full Story