STAM transports STING oligomers into extracellular vesicles, down-regulating the innate immune response

Abstract

Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) mediates the innate immune response against damaged endogenous double-strand DNA and exogenous virus infection. The location of STING is critical to the accurate control of defence signalling pathways. Recently, the effects of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the regulation of innate immune signalling have been reported. Nevertheless, the particular roles played by STING in EVs and the related mechanisms have remained largely unknown. Herein, we report that when STING was activated in cells, EVs derived from these cells carried STING oligomers. Signal transducing adapter molecule 1 (STAM) was found to be a STING transporter that directly interacted with STING and facilitated STING transport into EVs. Importantly, the translocation of STING into EVs was a mechanism by which STING was degraded, suppressing the innate immune response. In summary, we elucidated the mechanism and function of the translocation of STING into EVs, adding to the understanding of STING activity regulation.