Development of a rinsing separation method for exosome isolation and comparison to conventional methods

H. Cheng, H. Fang, R.-D. Xu, M.-Q. Fu, L. Chen, X.-Y. Song, J.-Y. Qian, Y.-Z. Zou, J.-Y. Ma, J.-B. Ge

Department of Cardiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai Institute of  Cardiovascular Disease, Shanghai, China. ma.jianying@zs-hospital.sh.cn

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• Stem Cells

OBJECTIVE: Exosomes contain valuable biomarkers for many diseases. Tragically, standardized isolation methods and subsequent characterization criteria for exosomes remain limited. Therefore, we developed a new exosome isolation method, termed rinsing separation, and compared its advantages and weaknesses relative to the existing ultracentrifugation and ExoQuick precipitation methods.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rinsing separation utilizes heparin and glutaraldehyde as a fixative to isolate exosomes, and was developed using the culture supernatant from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The isolated exosomes were characterized and compared by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Western blot.

RESULTS: Consistent with known exosome parameters, exosomes isolated using each method ranged in size from 30 to 150 nm and demonstrated the characteristic cup-shaped morphology. Moreover, the exosome markers CD63 and TSG101 were observed in the lysate of all exosome samples that were isolated using each method. Several advantages and drawbacks were noted for each exosome isolation method. Most notably, ultracentrifugation resulted in fewer, but highly pure, exosomes, and samples generated using the ExoQuick precipitation method contained the most contaminating debris. Samples obtained using pour rinsing separation method represented an amalgam of these two fractions, but were isolated in significantly less time.

CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we propose rinsing separation as a new method of isolating exosomes. This method is convenient, and the resulting exosomes are highly pure. Moreover, rinsing separation offers time- and cost-efficiency advantages, making it a promising approach for exosome isolation for clinical applications.

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