The Methods of Choice for Extracellular Vesicles Characterization

In recent years, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have become a subject of intense study. These membrane-enclosed spherical structures are secreted by almost every cell type and are engaged in the transport of cellular content (cargo) from parental to target cells. The impact of EVs transfer has been observed in many vital cellular processes including cell-to-cell communication and immune response modulation; thus, a fast and precise characterization of EVs may be relevant for both scientific and diagnostic purposes. In this review, researchers from Jagiellonian University Medical College present the most popular analytical techniques used in EVs studies with the emphasis on exosomes and microvesicles characterization.

The extracellular vesicles (EVs) release

Alive cells release both exosomes and microvesicles either constitutively and/or under activation. Exosomes are formed from multivesicular bodies while microvesicles arise through direct budding from the plasma membrane. The cells undergoing apoptosis release apoptotic bodies formed by random blebbing.