Table 1.

Main types of EVs and their properties

	Exosomes	Microvesicles	Apoptotic Bodies
Size	40–150 nm	100–1,000 nm	>1,000 nm
Origin	Late endosome (multivesicular body)	Plasma membrane	Apoptotic cell (plasma membrane)
Main functions	Transmission of proteins and RNAs	Transmission of RNAs and DNAs	Not clearly defined
Proteins	ESCRT components, adhesion molecules (tetraspanins:CD63,CD9), membrane transport/fusion protein (flotillins, annexins), antigen presentation (MHC I), signal transduction, enzymes, cytoskeletal proteins, other cytosolic proteins (TSG101), heat shock protein (HSP 70)	Integrins, flotillins, selectins, CD40, metalloproteinases	Annexin, histones
Lipids	Lysobisphosphatidic acid, cholesterol, ceramide, sphingomyelin, and low concentration of phosphatidylserine	High amount of cholesterol, sphingomyelin, ceramide, high concentration of phosphatidylserine	High concentration of phosphatidylserine
Nucleic acids	mRNA and miRNA	mRNA and miRNA	mRNA, miRNA, fragments of DNA
Morphology	Homogeneous cup shape	Heterogeneous irregular	Heterogeneous irregular
Isolation method	Immunoprecipitation (commercial Kit), ultracentrifugation (100,000–200,000 g), ultracentrifugation with density gradient	Ultracentrifugation (10,000–60,000 g)	No standardized protocol
References	(35, 41, 46)	(39, 41, 65)	(31)

EV, extracellular vesicles; ESCRT, endosomal sorting complex required for transport.