The exosomes isolated from serum of patients with systemic sclerosis contained higher levels of profibrotic miRNAs and lower levels of antifibrotic miRNAs compared to exosomes from healthy individuals. When applied to normal dermal fibroblasts in culture, the scleroderma patient exosomes stimulated the expression of profibrotic genes, mimicking the phenotype of scleroderma fibroblasts. This effect was partially reduced when the exosomes were pre-treated to degrade either the RNA or protein content, indicating both components contribute to the exosomes' ability to induce a profibrotic phenotype in target cells and suggesting a potential mechanism for the transmission and progression of fibrosis in scleroderma.