Tangential Flow Filtration with or Without Subsequent Bind-Elute Size Exclusion Chromatography for Purification of Extracellular Vesicles

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have gained increased attention over the last decade due to their potential as biomarkers and therapeutic entities. However, the characterization and development of EV research has been hampered by the lack of sufficiently effective purification methods. Several concerns have been raised toward the gold standard purification method ultracentrifugation, such as operator-dependent yields, crushing and aggregation of vesicles, poor scalability, and relative lack of purity. Here, we describe, in details, the use of an alternative purification technique: tangential flow filtration with or without subsequent bind-elute size exclusion chromatography that we have previously shown to be reproducible and scalable for purification of EVs.