Abstract
Microvesicles and exosomes are released to the extracellular milieu and are detectable in body fluids. They act as unique vehicles for cargo transfer to other cells/tissues. They contain a set of membrane receptors, intracellular proteins and nucleic acids. Here, we describe basic techniques for their isolation and characterization from cell culture media or body fluids. We also describe critical techniques for characterizing their cargo (miRNAs) and their protein content. Finally, we present labeling methods for their use in in vitro procedures and for their in vivo delivery and subsequent analysis of their cargo transfer to multiple cell types.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Simons M, Raposo G (2009) Exosomes: vesicular carriers for intercellular communication. Curr Opin Cell Biol 21(4):575–581. doi:10.1016/j.ceb.2009.03.007
Mittelbrunn M, Sanchez-Madrid F (2012) Intercellular communication: diverse structures for exchange of genetic information. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 13(5):328–335. doi:10.1038/nrm3335
Muralidharan-Chari V, Clancy JW, Sedgwick A, D’Souza-Schorey C (2010) Microvesicles: mediators of extracellular communication during cancer progression. J Cell Sci 123(Pt 10):1603–1611. doi:10.1242/jcs.064386
Valadi H, Ekstrom K, Bossios A, Sjostrand M, Lee JJ, Lotvall JO (2007) Exosome-mediated transfer of mRNAs and microRNAs is a novel mechanism of genetic exchange between cells. Nat Cell Biol 9(6):654–659. doi:10.1038/ncb1596
Ratajczak J, Miekus K, Kucia M, Zhang J, Reca R, Dvorak P, Ratajczak MZ (2006) Embryonic stem cell-derived microvesicles reprogram hematopoietic progenitors: evidence for horizontal transfer of mRNA and protein delivery. Leukemia 20(5):847–856. doi:10.1038/sj.leu.2404132
Hunter MP, Ismail N, Zhang X, Aguda BD, Lee EJ, Yu L, Xiao T, Schafer J, Lee ML, Schmittgen TD, Nana-Sinkam SP, Jarjoura D, Marsh CB (2008) Detection of microRNA expression in human peripheral blood microvesicles. PLoS One 3(11):e3694. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003694
Yu L, Todd NW, Xing L, Xie Y, Zhang H, Liu Z, Fang H, Zhang J, Katz RL, Jiang F (2010) Early detection of lung adenocarcinoma in sputum by a panel of microRNA markers. Int J Cancer 127(12):2870–2878. doi:10.1002/ijc.25289
Zen K, Zhang CY (2012) Circulating microRNAs: a novel class of biomarkers to diagnose and monitor human cancers. Med Res Rev 32(2):326–348. doi:10.1002/med.20215
Mathivanan S, Fahner CJ, Reid GE, Simpson RJ (2012) ExoCarta 2012: database of exosomal proteins, RNA and lipids. Nucleic Acids Res 40(Database issue):D1241–D1244. doi:10.1093/nar/gkr828
Valencia K, Luis-Ravelo D, Bovy N, Anton I, Martinez-Canarias S, Zandueta C, Ormazabal C, Struman I, Tabruyn S, Rebmann V, De Las RJ, Guruceaga E, Bandres E, Lecanda F (2014) miRNA cargo within exosome-like vesicle transfer influences metastatic bone colonization. Mol Oncol 8(3):689–703. doi:10.1016/j.molonc.2014.01.012
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness SAF2012-40056 to F.L, “UTE project FIMA” agreement, the Cancer Research Thematic Network of the Health Institute Carlos III (RTICC RD12/0036/0066), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) “Una manera de hacer Europa.”
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Valencia, K., Lecanda, F. (2016). Microvesicles: Isolation, Characterization for In Vitro and In Vivo Procedures. In: Medarova, Z. (eds) RNA Imaging. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1372. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3148-4_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3148-4_14
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-3147-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-3148-4
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols