Isolation and purification of exosome and other extracellular vesicles

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), also known as microvesicles and exosomes, are vesicles with sizes ranging from nanoparticles to microns. These bioactive payloads might comprise messenger RNA, noncoding RNA, lipids, growth regulators, its receptors, proteases, and molecules that transmit signals. Significantly impeding progress is the absence of standardized and efficient procedures for the extraction and evaluation of exosomes suitable for clinical use. The absence of reliable and standardized procedures for isolating and analyzing clinical-grade exosomes remains a major barrier. The challenges are further intensified when handling unprocessed biological fluids, which consist of cells and proteins with physical and/or biomolecular characteristics resembling exosomes by definition. Presently, EV size distinctions and the targeting of certain surface markers are both components of isolation techniques. This review will look over the most recent breakthroughs in EV extraction and purification technologies, as well as their advantages and disadvantages, justifications for utilizing them, and challenges they confront. Significant breakthroughs occurred because they demonstrated how the requirements for exosome separation push the limits of scientific and technological progress. Every microfluidic system has distinct characteristics, and its performance exhibits substantial variation. Microfluidic device-based exosome separation systems use the following techniques: The techniques used in this study include immunoaffinity, membrane-based filtration, nanowire capturing, acoustic nanofiltration process, deterministic lateral displacement (DLD), and viscoelastic flow sorting processes. The application of microfluidic-based exosome separation demonstrated a novel implementation within the field of nanoscale biocolloid isolation, focusing on the advancements previously made in acoustical and DLD research.