. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jan 28.

Published in final edited form as: Nat Methods. 2021 Aug 26;18(9):1013–1026. doi: 10.1038/s41592-021-01206-3

Table 4 |.

Model systems for EV imaging

Model system	Biogenesis	Secretion	Transfer	Biodistribution	uptake	Functional cargo transfer	Subcellular resolution	Relevance to human physiology	Cost	Throughput
In vitro (2D)	++	++	−	−	+	+	++	−/+	Low	High
In vitro (3D; for example, organoids)	+	+	−/+	−	+	+	++	++	Low	High
G. gallus CAM^47,70	+	+	+	−/+	+	++	++	+	Low	Medium or low
C. elegans^67–69,128	+	+	+	+	++	++	++	−/+	Low	Medium
D. melanogaster ^{63–65,129,130}	+	+	+	+	++	++	++	−/+	Low	Medium
D. rerio ^2,17,19	+	+	++	++	++	++	++	+	Medium	Medium
M. musculus, Rattus norvegicus ^21,22,34,118	−	−/+	+	++	+	++	−/+	++	High	Low

The suitability and relevance of different model systems for EV imaging to visualize disparate aspects of EV biology at different scales. −, unsuitable; −/+, low suitability; +, suitable; ++, highly suitable.