title: The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles launches the first massive open online course on extracellular vesicles.
abstract: The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) has organised its first educational online course for students and beginners in the field of extracellular vesicles (EVs). This course, "Basics of Extracellular Vesicles," uses recorded lectures from experts in the field and will be open for an unlimited number of participants. The course is divided into 5 modules and can be accessed at www.coursera.org/learn/extracellular-vesicles. The first module is an introduction to the field covering the nomenclature and history of EVs. Module 2 focuses on the biogenesis and uptake mechanisms of EVs, as well as their RNA, protein and lipid cargo. Module 3 covers the collection and processing of cell culture media and body fluids such as blood, breast milk, cerebrospinal fluid and urine prior to isolation of EVs. Modules 4 and 5 present different isolation methods and characterisation techniques utilised in the EV field. Here, differential ultracentrifugation, size-exclusion chromatography, density gradient centrifugation, kit-based precipitation, electron microscopy, cryo-electron microscopy, flow cytometry, atomic-force microscopy and nanoparticle-tracking analysis are covered. This first massive open online course (MOOC) on EVs was launched on 15 August 2016 at the platform "Coursera" and is free of charge.
authors.affiliation: Krefting Research Centre, Institution of Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; cecilia.lasser@gu.se.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lässer
authors.affiliation: Institut Curie, PSL Research University, INSERM U932, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Clotilde
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Théry
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Cell- and Immunobiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Edit I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Buzás
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mathivanan
authors.affiliation: Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Edwards Lifesciences Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.|Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.|Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Weian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, POSTECH, Pohang, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Song
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Gho
authors.affiliation: Krefting Research Centre, Institution of Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lötvall
keywords: Coursera; International Society for Extracellular Vesicles; education; exosomes; extracellular vesicles; massive open online course; microvesicles