Exosomes bind to autotaxin and act as a physiological delivery mechanism to stimulate LPA receptor signalling in cells.

Autotaxin (ATX; also known as ENPP2), the lysophospholipase responsible for generating the lipid receptor agonist lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), is a secreted enzyme. Here we show that, once secreted, ATX can bind to the surface of cell-secreted exosomes. Exosome-bound ATX is catalytically active and carries generated LPA. Once bound to a cell, through specific integrin interactions, ATX releases the LPA to activate cell surface G-protein-coupled receptors of LPA; inhibition of signalling by the receptor antagonist Ki1642 suggests that these receptors are LPAR1 and LPAR3. The binding stimulates downstream signalling, including phosphorylation of AKT and mitogen-activated protein kinases, the release of intracellular stored Ca