Category 6

Exosomes and Other Extracellular Vesicles

12 topics planned. Each topic is published as a Professional and Patient edition only after explicit author approval.

6.1Extracellular-particle terminology
In review
1. · Extracellular vesicles
2. · Small extracellular vesicles
3. · Large extracellular vesicles
4. · Ectosomes
5. · Microvesicles
6. · Apoptotic bodies
7. · Nonvesicular extracellular particles
6.2What is an exosome?
In review
1. · Endosomal origin
2. · Multivesicular bodies
3. · Vesicle release
4. · Why size alone cannot establish exosome identity
5. · Appropriate use of “EV” terminology
6.3EV composition
In review
1. · Membrane lipids
2. · Surface proteins
3. · Cytosolic proteins
4. · mRNA
5. · MicroRNA
6. · Other noncoding RNA
7. · DNA and mitochondrial components
6.4EV biogenesis
In review
1. · Endosomal pathways
2. · Plasma-membrane budding
3. · Cargo sorting
4. · Rab proteins
5. · ESCRT-dependent pathways
6. · ESCRT-independent pathways
6.5EV uptake
In review
1. · Receptor binding
2. · Endocytosis
3. · Membrane fusion
4. · Phagocytosis
5. · Cargo release
6. · Target-cell specificity
6.6MSC-derived EVs
In review
1. · Relationship to MSC biology
2. · Immunomodulatory cargo
3. · Angiogenic signaling
4. · Antifibrotic signaling
5. · Tissue-repair hypotheses
6. · Differences from living-cell products
6.7EV separation methods
Approved
1. · Differential centrifugation
2. · Ultracentrifugation
3. · Density gradients
4. · Size-exclusion chromatography
5. · Ultrafiltration
6. · Tangential-flow filtration
7. · Precipitation
8. · Immunoaffinity capture
6.8EV characterization
Approved
1. · Particle concentration
2. · Particle size
3. · Electron microscopy
4. · Flow cytometry
5. · Western blotting
6. · Proteomics
7. · Lipidomics
8. · RNA analysis
9. · Single-vesicle analysis
6.9Purity and contaminants
Approved
1. · Protein aggregates
2. · Lipoproteins
3. · Cell debris
4. · Media-derived particles
5. · Serum-derived EVs
6. · Viruses
7. · Residual processing materials
6.10EV potency and dose
Approved
1. · Particle number
2. · Protein quantity
3. · Cell-equivalent dose
4. · Cargo-based dosing
5. · Functional assays
6. · Dose-response testing
7. · Lack of universal dosing standards
6.11EV storage and stability
Approved
1. · Temperature
2. · Buffer composition
3. · Freeze–thaw cycles
4. · Container effects
5. · Aggregation
6. · Sterility
7. · Shelf life
6.12Exosome marketing claims
Approved
1. · Particle counts without purity data
2. · Undefined source cells
3. · Unvalidated potency
4. · “Stem-cell-free” safety claims
5. · Cosmetic versus therapeutic claims
6. · Research-use-only products used clinically