Model Cat. 57400, 57500, 57600 - Plasma/Serum Exosome Purification Kit - Brochure

Exosomes are 40 - 150 nm membrane vesicles which are secreted by most cell types. Exosomes can be found in plasma, serum, saliva, urine, amniotic fluid and malignant ascite fluids, among other biological fluids. Evidence has been accumulating recently that these vesicles act as cellular messengers, conveying information to distant cells and tissues within the body. The exosomes contain cell-specific proteins, lipids and RNAs, which are transported to other cells, where they can alter function and/or physiology. These exosomes may play a functional role in mediating adaptive immune responses to infectious agents and tumours, tissue repair, neural communication and transfer of pathogenic proteins. Recent work has demonstrated the presence of distinct subsets of microRNAs within exosomes and other extracellular vesicles (EVs) which depend upon the tumour cell type from which they are secreted. For this reason exosomal RNA may serve as biomarkers for various diseases including cancer. Another subset of RNA that is found in plasma or serum are the free-circulating RNA (fc-RNA). These Fc-RNA are usually protein-bound RNA that are leaked from cells either during apoptosis or necrosis. As the RNA molecules encapsulated within exosomes or being bound to proteins (fc-RNA) are protected from degradation by RNAses, they can be efficiently recovered from biological fluids, such as plasma or serum. In general, these two RNA groups contain valuable information for the discovery of biomarkers that can help with early detection of certain cancer types and for monitoring the disease status.