A UCF team has developed a quick, cost-effective way to isolate and study exosomes in under an hour and using basic lab tools. Exosomes, nano-sized vesicles released by cells that contain proteins, DNA, and other molecules, provide a view of what’s happening inside the body, which makes them promising tools for early, noninvasive disease detection.
“Our method eliminates the need for ultracentrifugation, precipitation kits or affinity-based labeling,” says Qun Huo. “Instead, we use a size-selective filtration and direct optical analysis technique that can isolate and characterize exosomes within a single step.” The team tested their method on exosomes from three different types of cells, including brain cancer stem cells from a patient with glioblastoma. The method isolated the exosomes and identified their surface proteins with great reliability.
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