How pure are your vesicles?
Open accessAbstract
We propose a straightforward method to estimate the purity of vesicle preparations by comparing the ratio of nano-vesicle counts to protein concentration, using tools such as the increasingly available NanoSight platform and a colorimetric protein assay such as the BCA-assay. Such an approach is simple enough to apply to every vesicle preparation within a given laboratory, assisting researchers as a routine quality control step. Also, the approach may aid in comparing/standardising vesicle purity across diverse studies, and may be of particular importance in evaluating vesicular biomarkers. We herein propose some criteria to aid in the definition of pure vesicles.
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The particle-to-protein ratio has been proposed as an indicator for estimating the purity of EV preparations, although its applicability requires careful evaluation since expected ratios can vary depending on factors such as EV origin and isolation method.
“The particle-to-protein ratio has been proposed as an indicator for estimating the purity of EV preparations [60], although its applicability requires careful evaluation [49,50], since expected ratios can vary depending on multiple factors, such as EV origin and isolation method.”
From Optimized Wound Healing Assay to Study Extracellular Vesicle-Driven Glioblastoma Cell Migration (2026) · cites this paper as [60]
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- Authors
- Webber, J., & Clayton, A.
- Affiliations
- Velindre Cancer Centre (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Clayton, Aled
- Venue
- Journal of Extracellular Vesicles
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-01
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 2001-3078 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3760653
- OpenAlex
- W2076637458
- Cited by
- 817
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 81 · 2025: 89 · 2024: 84 · 2023: 72 · 2022: 101 · 2021: 87 · 2020: 76 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 55 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 11.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Extracellular Vesicles (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (acceptedVersion)
- Cronfa (Swansea University) (acceptedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Cancer Research Wales
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Extracellular vesicles in disease
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior
- Keywords
- extracellular vesicles, vesicle purity, nanoparticle tracking analysis, BCA assay
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