Table 1.

Comparison of Extracellular Vesicles subtypes.

	Exosomes	Microvesicles	Apoptotic Bodies
Size (nm)	30–150	100–1000	50–5000
Biogenesis	Derived from inward invagination of endosomes to forms MVB, released once MVB fuses with plasma membrane	Outward budding of plasma membrane	Membrane budding and disintegration during apoptosis
Contents	membrane transport and fusion proteins, heat shock proteins, tetraspanins, ESCRT proteins and cytoskeletal proteins RNA-particularly mRNA and miRNA, lipids including cholesterol, sphingomyelin and phosphatidylserine	Overlap with exosomes and MHC class 1 proteins, vesicular SNARE proteins, mitochondrial proteins and ribosomal subunits. RNA profile distinct from exosomes, lipids including cholesterol, sphingomyelin and phosphatidylserine	cytoplasm with tightly packed organelles, nuclear fragments, proteins, lipids and nucleic acid
Markers	Tetraspanins (CD63, CD9, CD81), HSP70, ALIX, TSG101, flotillin 1	ARF6, Integrins, selectins, CD40	Annexin V, Thrombospondin, C3b