title: Imaging and Quantification of Extracellular Vesicles by Transmission Electron Microscopy.
abstract: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived vesicles that are present in blood and other body fluids. EVs raise major interest for their diverse physiopathological roles and their potential biomedical applications. However, the characterization and quantification of EVs constitute major challenges, mainly due to their small size and the lack of methods adapted for their study. Electron microscopy has made significant contributions to the EV field since their initial discovery. Here, we describe the use of two transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques for imaging and quantifying EVs. Cryo-TEM combined with receptor-specific gold labeling is applied to reveal the morphology, size, and phenotype of EVs, while their enumeration is achieved after high-speed sedimentation on EM grids.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Imaging and NanoBioTechnology, UMR-5248-CBMN, CNRS-University of Bordeaux-IPB, Bat. B14, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33600, Pessac, France.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Linares
authors.affiliation: Molecular Imaging and NanoBioTechnology, UMR-5248-CBMN, CNRS-University of Bordeaux-IPB, Bat. B14, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33600, Pessac, France.
authors.forename: Sisareuth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Molecular Imaging and NanoBioTechnology, UMR-5248-CBMN, CNRS-University of Bordeaux-IPB, Bat. B14, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33600, Pessac, France.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gounou
authors.affiliation: Molecular Imaging and NanoBioTechnology, UMR-5248-CBMN, CNRS-University of Bordeaux-IPB, Bat. B14, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33600, Pessac, France. a.brisson@cbmn.u-bordeaux.fr.
authors.forename: Alain R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Brisson
mesh_terms: D017304:Annexin A5; D015415:Biomarkers; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D000067128:Extracellular Vesicles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006046:Gold; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
chemical_list: D017304:Annexin A5; D015415:Biomarkers; D006046:Gold
keywords: Annexin-A5 (Anx5); Antibodies (Abs); Blood plasma; Cryo-TEM; Erythrocytes; Extracellular vesicles (EVs); Immuno-gold labeling; Phosphatidylserine (PS); Platelets; Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)