94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Membrane Traffic and Organelle Dynamics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1497795
Characterization of size distribution and markers for mosquito extracellular vesicles
Provisionally accepted
Félix Rey-Cadilhac 1
Florian Rachenne 1 Antonin Marquant 2 Josephine Lai 3
Aurélie Ancelin 3 Veronica Foisor 4
Marie Morille 3
Sebastien Lyonnais 5 Chantal Cazevieille 6
Dorothée Missé 1
Julien Pompon 1*- 1 Institut de Recherche Pour le Développement (IRD), Marseille, France
- 2 Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
- 3 Centre de Biologie Structurale, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
- 4 unchained laboratory, pleasanton, United Kingdom
- 5 UMS3725 Centre d'Etudes des Maladies Infectieuses et Pharmacologie Anti Infectieuse (CEMIPAI), Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
- 6 INSERM U1051 Institut des Neurosciences de Montpellier (INM), Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are non-replicative, cell-derived membranous structures secreted by potentially all eukaryotic cells, playing a crucial role in intercellular communication. The study of EVs requires approaches and tools, which have predominantly been developed for mammalian models. Here, we undertook a multimodal characterization of mosquito EVs to provide the technical and knowledge foundation for their study. First, using a cell line model from Aedes aegypti and applying multiple analytical technologies (i.e., NTA, TEM, cryo-EM and AFM), we observed that mosquito EVs range from 20-500 nm in diameter and that a majority is smaller than 100 nm. Second, we showed that smaller EVs are secreted in mosquito saliva. Third, we evaluated the capacity of differential centrifugation and size exclusion chromatography to separate mosquito EVs, revealing the strengths and weaknesses of each technology. Finally, we identified a mosquito homolog of CD63 as an extravesicular marker and the mosquito syntenin as a putative luminal marker. Overall, our results promote the development of tools and approaches for the study of mosquito EVs.
Keywords: extracellular vesicles, mosquito, Microscopy, Protein markers, Syntenin, tetraspanin, characterization, analytical methods
Received: 02 Oct 2024; Accepted: 12 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Rey-Cadilhac, Rachenne, Marquant, Lai, Ancelin, Foisor, Morille, Lyonnais, Cazevieille, Missé and Pompon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Julien Pompon, Institut de Recherche Pour le Développement (IRD), Marseille, France
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.