Table 1.

Exosome classification based on the producer cell type

Source	Function	Application	Isolation	References
Nervous system
Neuron derived exosomes Schwan‐Cell derived exosomes Microglia‐Cell derived exosomes Astrocyte derived exosomes Oligodendrocyte derived exosomes	Reciprocal control of excitatory synapse, modulation of axonal branching, neuronal activity and plasticity, release and trans‐synaptic transmission of proteins	Spinal cord and peripheral nerve regeneration, targeted therapy for neurological disorders, early detection of neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and traumatic brain injury	Ultracentrifugation of neural cell culture medium, differential ultracentrifugation of brain tissue homogenates, and precipitation of cerebrospinal fluid	17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Cardiovascular system
Cardiomyocyte derived exosomes Cardiac Telocyte‐derived exosomes Cardiac Progenitor‐Cell derived exosomes Endothelial‐Cell derived exosomes Cardiosphere‐derived exosomes	Induction of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, regulation of oxidative stress and inflammation, inhibition of apoptosis, induction of cardiac endothelial cell proliferation, and modulation of cardiac fibrosis	Biomarker of myocardial injury, targeted therapy for myocardial infarction and heart failure, and prognostic marker of cardiovascular diseases	Differential ultracentrifugation of cardiomyocyte homogenates, multi‐step centrifugation of cardiac fibroblast culture medium, and precipitation of pericardial fluid	6, 22, 23, 24
Liver
Hepatocyte derived exosomes Cholangiocyte derived exosomes Kupffer Cell‐derived exosomes Liver Endothelial Cell‐derived exosomes Hepatic Stellate Cell‐derived exosomes	Induction of hepatocyte survival, growth, migration and proliferation, trans‐differentiation of myofibroblast hepatic stellate cells, regulation of fibrosis, and the inflammatory response in the liver	Targeted therapy for liver regeneration, biomarkers for assessing the safety of liver transplantation, diagnostic and prognostic markers of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and alcoholic liver disease	Density‐gradient ultracentrifugation of liver tissue homogenates, differential ultracentrifugation, and precipitation of primary hepatocyte culture medium	25, 26, 27, 28, 29
Stem cells
Mesenchymal Stem Cell‐derived exosomes Neural Stem Cell‐derived exosomes Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell‐derived exosomes Embryonic Stem Cell‐derived exosomes Endothelial Progenitor Cell‐derived exosomes	Development and growth of the embryo, adult tissue regeneration, differentiation and transformation, immunomodulation, and stromal remodeling	Induction of tissue remodeling, targeted regenerative therapy for neoplasms, ischemic myocardium, graft‐versus‐host disease, memory dysfunction, autoimmune disorders, and other degenerative disorders	Differential ultracentrifugation and one‐step sucrose cushion ultracentrifugation of stem cell culture medium, and precipitation from stem cell culture medium	30, 31, 32, 33
Skeletal muscle
Myotube derived exosomes Muscle‐derived Fibroblasts exosomes	Control of myoblast differentiation and proliferation, regulation of skeletal muscle metabolic homeostasis, oxidative stress and inflammation	Targeted therapy for muscular dystrophy, insulin resistance and other metabolic disorders affecting muscle physiology	Differential ultracentrifugation of myoblast and myotube cell culture medium	34, 35
Pancreas
Pancreatic stellate cell‐derived exosomes β‐cell‐derived exosomes	Regulation of cell proliferation, migration and modulation of immune responses (regulation of chemokines expression in pancreatic cells, antigen deliver and activation of dendritic cells)	Proposed as biomarkers for pancreatic cancer and as therapeutic target to control autoimmune responses in type‐1 diabetes	Differential ultracentrifugation of cell culture medium	36, 37, 38
Urinary exosomes
Bladder‐derived exosomes Kidney‐derived exosomes Prostate‐derived exosomes	Induction of cell migration, modulation of angiogenesis, control of biological processes associated to the progression of advanced fibrotic disease, and regulation of inflammatory processes	The exosome concentration and several exosomal miRNAs and proteins are proposed as biomarkers for bladder cancer, diabetic nephropathy, lupus nephritis, Parkinson's disease, IgA nephropathy, and prostate cancer	Differential ultracentrifugation and precipitation of human urine	39, 40, 41, 42, 43
Immune system
Dendritic cell‐derived exosomes B‐cell‐derived exosomes Macrophage‐derived exosomes T‐cell derived exosomes	Antigens distribution and delivery for activation of immune response, elimination of immune cells for suppression of immune response, and regulation of the expression of pro‐inflammatory molecules	Potential use as nanocarriers for the delivery of immunomodulatory molecules, and vaccines for immune therapy	Differential ultracentrifugation and ultracentrifugation followed by sucrose gradient purification of culture medium	44, 45, 46, 47, 48
Breast
Breast milk‐derived exosomes	Regulation of immune response, protective role against vertical transmission of HIV‐1, and stimulation of intestinal stem cell activity	Prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis in intolerant breastfeeding infants and immune therapy	Differential centrifugation of human breast milk of healthy mothers and precipitation of human and rat breast milk	49, 50, 51, 52
Tumor‐derived exosomes
Glioblastoma cell‐derived exosomes Colon cancer cell‐derived exosomes Melanoma cell‐derived exosomes Nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell‐derived exosomes Prostate cancer cell‐derived exosomes Cervical cancer cell‐derived exosomes Diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma side population cell‐derived exosomes Lung cancer cell‐derived exosomes Bladder cancer cell‐derived exosomes Breast cancer‐cell derived exosomes Mesothelioma cancer cell‐derived exosomes Pancreatic cancer cell‐derived exosomes Renal cancer cell‐derived exosomes Chronic myeloid leukemia cell‐derived exosomes Hepatocellular carcinoma cell‐derived exosomes	Promotion of tumor proliferation, invasion and metastasis, enhance angiogenesis, impair immune response and increase cancer resistance to therapies	Proposed as biomarkers for the detection of several types of cancer and nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery against cancer proliferation	Differential centrifugation and precipitation of human fluids and cell culture medium	53, 54