Table 1.

Characteristics of different types of secreted vesicle.

Vesicle types	Size	Shape	Origin	The main markers	Lipids component
Exosomes	50-100 nm	Cup shaped	Internal compartments (endosomes)	Tetraspanins (CD63/CD9); Alix; TSG101; MHCI; HSP70	Cholesterol, sphingomyelin, ceramide, lipid rafts, phosphatidylserine
Microvesicles	100–1,000 nm	Irregular	Plasma membrane	CD40; selectins (CD62); integrins	Phosphatidylserine
Ectosomes	50–200 nm	Spherical	Plasma membrane	CR1 and proteolytic enzymes; no CD63	Enriched in cholesterol and diacylglycerol; expose phosphatidylserine
Membrane particles	50–80 nm	Round	Plasma membrane	CD133; integrins; GRP94; no CD63	Unclear
Exosome-like vesicles	20–50 nm	Irregular	Internal compartments	TNFRI	No lipid rafts
Apoptotic bodies	50–500 nm	Heterogeneous	Unclear	Histones	Unclear