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. 2020 Aug 17;42(3):323–339. doi: 10.1038/s41401-020-0494-3

Fig. 8. Imaging and force spectroscopy measurements of individual exosomes by AFM revealing the mechanical phenotypes of exosomes in promoting tumor progression.

Fig. 8

a Schematic of exosomes in the communication of cells. I Release of exosomes by donor cells can be induced by diverse signaling pathways and occurs in a reversed budding event. The uptake of exosome is accomplished via endocytosis, receptor-ligand interaction or by direct fusion. II Exosome content. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [106]. Copyright 2017 Elsevier Ltd. b AFM is able to probe the structure and properties of single exosomes. I Imaging the topography of single exosomes. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [116]. Copyright 2014 Elsevier Inc. II Indenting single exosomes. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [118]. Copyright 2010 American Chemical Society. III, IV Probing single receptors on exosomes. III Schematic of using antibody-modified tip to recognize specific receptors on exosomes. IV Force curves obtained during AFM force spectroscopy assays discriminating the specific molecular interactions and nonspecific molecular interactions. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [120]. Copyright 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.