Reticulocyte maturation: mitoptosis and exosome release.

During the differentiation of erythroid cells, a vast program of maturation takes place, leading to decay or elimination of organelles, including the nucleus, mitochondria, ribosomes, lysosomes, endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. During the last step of red cell maturation, remaining organelles, primarily mitochondria and ribosomes but also vestiges of others are finally cleared from the cell. This cleaning session also affects specific proteins that are partially or entirely removed from the cell surface. The interplay of the various events and their causal relationships are approached here.