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Abstract
Exosomes are small membrane vesicles found in cell culture supernatants and in different
biological fluids. Exosomes form in a particular population of endosomes, called multivesicular
bodies (MVBs), by inward budding into the lumen of the compartment. Upon fusion of
MVBs with the plasma membrane, these internal vesicles are secreted. Exosomes possess
a defined set of membrane and cytosolic proteins. The physiological function of exosomes
is still a matter of debate, but increasing results in various experimental systems
suggest their involvement in multiple biological processes. Because both cell-culture
supernatants and biological fluids contain different types of lipid membranes, it
is critical to perform high-quality exosome purification. This unit describes different
approaches for exosome purification from various sources, and discusses methods to
evaluate the purity and homogeneity of the purified exosome preparations.