Table 2.

Isolation methods for EVs.

Method	Mechanism	Advantage	Disadvantage
Ultracentrifugation	Density	Gold standard	Time-consuming (﹥4h); low yield
Density gradients	Density	Gold standard; highest purity	More time-consuming (﹥6h); low yield
Precipitation	Solubility	Easy; quickly (﹤4h)	Contaminating proteins
Immuno-capture	Antigen	Easy; quickly (﹤4h)	Low purity; separate EVs with targeted proteins only
Size exclusion chromatography	Size	Easy, quickly (﹤4h)	Low volume samples, (lipo)protein contaminating
Ultrafiltration	Size	High volume samples	Lack specificity