Published November 23, 2018 | Version v1
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Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles 2018 (MISEV2018): a position statement of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles and update of the MISEV2014 guidelines

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Description

The last decade has seen a sharp increase in the number of scientific publications describing
physiological and pathological functions of extracellular vesicles (EVs), a collective term covering
various subtypes of cell-released, membranous structures, called exosomes, microvesicles, microparticles,
ectosomes, oncosomes, apoptotic bodies, andmany other names. However, specific issues arise
when working with these entities, whose size and amount often make them difficult to obtain as
relatively pure preparations, and to characterize properly. The International Society for Extracellular
Vesicles (ISEV) proposed Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles (“MISEV”) guidelines
for the field in 2014. We now update these “MISEV2014” guidelines based on evolution of the
collective knowledge in the last four years. An important point to consider is that ascribing
a specific function to EVs in general, or to subtypes of EVs, requires reporting of specific information
beyond mere description of function in a crude, potentially contaminated, and heterogeneous
preparation. For example, claims that exosomes are endowed with exquisite and specific activities
remain difficult to support experimentally, given our still limited knowledge of their specific molecular
machineries of biogenesis and release, as compared with other biophysically similar EVs. The
MISEV2018 guidelines include tables and outlines of suggested protocols and steps to follow to
document specific EV-associated functional activities. Finally, a checklist is provided with summaries
of key points.

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