The slug Arion vulgaris has attracted major attention as one of the worst invasive herbivore pests in Europe and is renowned for the stiff mucus it secretes for locomotion. In this study we focused on the isolation and characterisation of extracellular vesicles, specifically exosomes and exosome-like vesicles, from Arion secretions. We developed a method for slug mucus collection and subsequent vesicle isolation by ultracentrifugation. The isolated vesicles with an average diameter of ~ 100 nm carry abundant proteins and short RNAs, as well as adhesion molecules similar to mammalian galectins. We demonstrated that the slug extracellular vesicles are internalised by plant cells and human cancer cells in in vitro assays and are loadable by bioactive compounds, which makes them an interesting tool for utilisation in biotechnology.

Centre of Nanomaterials and Biotechnology Faculty of Science Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem Czech Republic

Department of Biology Faculty of Science Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem Czech Republic

Department of Environmental Chemistry and Technology Faculty of Environment Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem Czech Republic

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