Table 1. Table depicting various subtypes of extracellular vesicles.

Parameters	Exosomes	Microvesicles	Apoptotic bodies
Size	40–150 nm 24	50–1000 nm 25	500–2000 nm
Density	1.13–1.19 g/mL 24	1.04–1.07 g/mL 25	1.16–1.28 g/mL
Origin	Endocytic 18	Budding from plasma membrane 17	Blebbing of plasma membrane 17
Composition	Higher level of ceramide compared to plasma membrane 26	Similar distribution of the lipids like that of plasma membrane. The difference lies in even distribution of major membrane lipids such as phosphatidylserine, phosphatidyl ethanolamine etc.: 25	Presence of phosphatidylserine on the cell surface (externalization) along with Annexin, FasL/FasR, TNFα/TNFR1Apo2L/DR5 21
Contents	MHC, miRNA, Non-coding RNA 27	Cytoplasmic protein, Membrane proteins, Receptor proteins, miRNA, mRNA 28	Various cell organelles, DNA, Nuclear fractions. 29
Biomarkers	TSPAN29, TSPAN30, CD81, CD82, CD9 TSG101, CD63 30	Integrins, selectins, metalloproteinase 31	Annexin V positive and phospatidylserine (PS) 32