Version 1
: Received: 20 July 2020 / Approved: 21 July 2020 / Online: 21 July 2020 (12:40:15 CEST)
Version 2
: Received: 19 August 2020 / Approved: 20 August 2020 / Online: 20 August 2020 (09:44:09 CEST)
Sidhom, K.; Obi, P.O.; Saleem, A. A Review of Exosomal Isolation Methods: Is Size Exclusion Chromatography the Best Option? Int. J. Mol. Sci.2020, 21, 6466.
Sidhom, K.; Obi, P.O.; Saleem, A. A Review of Exosomal Isolation Methods: Is Size Exclusion Chromatography the Best Option? Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 6466.
Sidhom, K.; Obi, P.O.; Saleem, A. A Review of Exosomal Isolation Methods: Is Size Exclusion Chromatography the Best Option? Int. J. Mol. Sci.2020, 21, 6466.
Sidhom, K.; Obi, P.O.; Saleem, A. A Review of Exosomal Isolation Methods: Is Size Exclusion Chromatography the Best Option? Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 6466.
Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membranous vesicles secreted by both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and play a vital role in intercellular communication. EVs are classified into several subtypes based on their origin, physical characteristics, and biomolecular makeup. Exosomes, a subtype of EVs, are released by the fusion of multivesicular bodies (MVB) with the plasma membrane of the cell. Several methods have been described in literature to isolate exosomes from biofluids including blood, urine, milk, and cell culture media among others. While differential ultracentrifugation (dUC), has been widely used to isolate exosomes, other techniques including ultrafiltration, precipitating agents such as poly-ethylene glycol (PEG), immunoaffinity capture, microfluidics and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) have emerged as credible alternatives with pros and cons associated with each. In this review, we provide a summary of commonly used exosomal isolation methodologies with a focus on SEC as an ideal methodology. We argue that exosomes isolated via SEC are relatively pure and functional, and that this methodology is reproducible and scalable, of low-cost, and does not require specialized equipment or user expertise.
Biology and Life Sciences, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.