Table 1.

Characteristics and properties of the main secreted vesicles.

Feature	Exosomes	Microparticles (MPs)	Apoptotic cells
Size	40–100 nm	100–1 000 nm	>4 000 nm
Coefficient of sedimentation	100 000 ×g	20 000 ×g	16 000 ×g
Methods of isolation	Sucrose gradient (1.13 y 1.19 g/mL)	Sucrose gradient, affinity column, electromagnetic sorting, and filtration	Sucrose gradient, affinity column, electromagnetic sorting, and filtration
Membrane of origin	Multivesicular endosomes	Plasma membrane	Plasma membrane
Generation	Spontaneous release and cellular activation	Spontaneous release, cellular activation, and apoptosis	Apoptosis
Annexin V binding	Low or negative	High, low, or negative	High
Functions	Carrying lytic enzymes and activation of phagocytes and B cells	Coagulation, M2 macrophage activation, and transfer of functional cell components	Antigen presentation through MHC II, M2 macrophage and monocyte activation and tissue remodeling
Markers	Rab GTPases, annexins, flotillin, Alix, TSG101, and CD63	Integrins, selectins, proteins from the parental cells, and PS	Histones, PS
Organelles	¿?	PMP might contain mitochondrial structures	Different
Nucleic acids	No	mRNA, DNA, miRNA, and interfering RNA	DNA, mRNA, and miRNA
References	[44, 45]	[22, 30, 46–50]	[51–53]