Table 2.

Advantages and disadvantages of currently available methods for EV isolation

Approaches	Advantages	Disadvantages	References
Ultracentrifugation	Decreases the risk of contamination with bigger vesicles	Expensive equipment; contamination with protein complex and lipoproteins; disrupts EV membrane because of high force; low yield	(47, 49)
Density gradient ultracentrifugation	Increases the purity of EV	Time-consuming; does not separate HDL from EV; low yield	(45, 48, 78, 93)
Size exclusion chromatography	Fast; separates EV from HDL; reproducibility and purity; preserves vesicle integrity	Vesicles of the same size would be co-isolated with EV	(71, 74)
Polyethylene glycol	Recovery of a higher yield; does not require expensive equipment; low volume necessary	Contamination with proteins, protein complexes, lipoproteins, and nucleoproteins as well as viral and other particles	(31, 32, 87)
Immunocapture	Isolation of homogeneous population; does not require special equipment; decreases contamination with other vesicles	Markers for different cell types are currently unknown; high selectivity and cost; nonspecific binding	(16, 77, 96)

EV, extracellular vesicle; HDL, high-density lipoproteins.