title: Size and shape characterization of hydrated and desiccated exosomes.
abstract: Exosomes are stable nanovesicles secreted by cells into the circulation. Their reported sizes differ substantially, which likely reflects the difference in the isolation techniques used, the cells that secreted them, and the methods used in their characterization. We analyzed the influence of the last factor on the measured sizes and shapes of hydrated and desiccated exosomes isolated from the serum of a pancreatic cancer patient and a healthy control. We found that hydrated exosomes are close-to-spherical nanoparticles with a hydrodynamic radius that is substantially larger than the geometric size. For desiccated exosomes, we found that the desiccated shape and sizing are influenced by the manner in which drying occurred. Isotropic desiccation in aerosol preserves the near-spherical shape of the exosomes, whereas drying on a surface likely distorts their shapes and influences the sizing results obtained by techniques that require surface fixation prior to analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Utah, 50 Central Campus Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
authors.forename: Vasiliy S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Chernyshev
authors.forename: Rakesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rachamadugu
authors.forename: Yen Hsun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Belnap
authors.forename: Yunlu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Kyle J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Branch
authors.forename: Anthony E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Butterfield
authors.forename: Leonard F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Pease
authors.forename: Philip S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skliar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D003584:Cytological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D003890:Desiccation; D000067493:Dynamic Light Scattering; D055354:Exosomes / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008962:Models, Theoretical