The Use of Peripheral Extracellular Vesicles for Identification of Molecular Biomarkers in a Solid Tumor Mouse Model

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been increasingly recognized as a potential source of disease biomarkers, since they contain a multitude of biologically active protein, DNA and RNA species, and they can be retrieved from circulating blood of patients. Here, we describe a protocol for DNA extraction from exosomes, shedding microvesicles and apoptotic bodies isolated from peripheral blood in a mouse xenograft model of solid tumor. In this model, human DNA isolated from tumor-derived EVs can be readily distinguished from the one of the hosts, which is of particular interest for studies aimed at molecular characterization of tumor biomarkers.