Damage-less handling of exosomes using an ion-depletion zone in a microchannel

Abstract

Exosomes are of increasing research interest because they are integral to cell-cell communication and are implicated in various disease states. Here, we investigated the utility of using an ion-depletion zone in a microfluidic device to concentrate exosomes from the culture media of four types of cell lines. Furthermore, we evaluated the extent of damage to the exosomes following concentration by an ion-depletion zone microchannel device compared with exosomes concentrated by a conventional ultra-centrifugation technique. Our results conclusively demonstrate that significantly less damage is incurred by exosomes following passage through and concentration by the ion-depleted zone microchannel device compared to concentration by ultra-centrifugation. Our findings will help extend the utility of exosomes to various applications.