Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 6, 2026
11:31
Evaluation of the Storage Stability of Extracellular Vesicles
Published on: May 22, 2019
15.1K
Extracellular vesicles protect glucuronidase model enzymes during freeze-drying
Julia Frank1, Maximilian Richter1,2, Chiara de Rossi3
1Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Biogenic Nanotherapeutics group (BION), Campus E8.1, 66123, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Scientific Reports
|August 19, 2018
Summary
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are stable during lyophilisation, a novel storage method. This research provides a basis for standardized EV applications in biomedical research.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Nanomedicine
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are crucial for intercellular communication, with growing interest in their therapeutic and diagnostic potential.
- Optimal storage conditions for EVs and their loaded cargoes remain largely unknown, hindering broader application.
- Current storage methods may compromise EV integrity and function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To comprehensively assess the stability of different EV types under various storage conditions, including lyophilisation.
- To evaluate the impact of storage on EV-loaded cargoes, using a model enzyme.
- To explore lyophilisation as a viable, room-temperature storage method for EVs.
Main Methods:
- EVs from mesenchymal stem cells, endothelial cells, and cancer cells were used.
- A model enzyme, β-glucuronidase, was encapsulated into EVs.
- Asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation was employed to confirm enzyme encapsulation.
- Enzyme activity was measured to assess EV stability under storage conditions (-80°C, 4°C, room temperature, lyophilisation).
Main Results:
- EVs demonstrated intrinsic stability during lyophilisation, outperforming liposomes.
- Lyophilisation of EVs allows for easy handling at room temperature.
- Cryoprotectants further enhanced the stability of EVs during lyophilisation.
- The model enzyme remained stably encapsulated within EVs after lyophilisation.
Conclusions:
- Lyophilisation is a promising storage modality for extracellular vesicles, preserving cargo integrity.
- This study provides a foundation for standardized and advanced applications of EVs in biomedical research.
- Optimized EV storage through lyophilisation can significantly enhance their utility in diagnostics and therapeutics.
Related Concept Videos
02:34Enzymes
94.9K
Inside living organisms, enzymes act as catalysts for many biochemical reactions involved in cellular metabolism. The role of enzymes is to reduce the activation energies of biochemical reactions by forming complexes with its substrates. The lowering of activation energies favor an increase in the rates of biochemical reactions.
Enzyme deficiencies can often translate into life-threatening diseases. For example, a genetic abnormality resulting in the deficiency of the enzyme G6PD...
Enzyme deficiencies can often translate into life-threatening diseases. For example, a genetic abnormality resulting in the deficiency of the enzyme G6PD...
94.9K
01:19Enzyme Kinetics
104.2K
Enzymes speed up reactions by lowering the activation energy of the reactants. The speed at which the enzyme turns reactants into products is called the rate of reaction. Several factors impact the rate of reaction, including the number of available reactants. Enzyme kinetics is the study of how an enzyme changes the rate of a reaction.
Scientists typically study enzyme kinetics with a fixed amount of enzyme in the controlled environment of a test tube. When more reactant, or substrate, is...
Scientists typically study enzyme kinetics with a fixed amount of enzyme in the controlled environment of a test tube. When more reactant, or substrate, is...
104.2K
03:12Freezing Point Depression and Boiling Point Elevation
40.3K
Boiling Point Elevation
The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which its vapor pressure is equal to ambient atmospheric pressure. Since the vapor pressure of a solution is lowered due to the presence of nonvolatile solutes, it stands to reason that the solution’s boiling point will subsequently be increased. Vapor pressure increases with temperature, and so a solution will require a higher temperature than will pure solvent to achieve any given vapor pressure, including one...
The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which its vapor pressure is equal to ambient atmospheric pressure. Since the vapor pressure of a solution is lowered due to the presence of nonvolatile solutes, it stands to reason that the solution’s boiling point will subsequently be increased. Vapor pressure increases with temperature, and so a solution will require a higher temperature than will pure solvent to achieve any given vapor pressure, including one...
40.3K
02:39Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
15.2K
Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
15.2K
01:30Dry Friction
996
Dry friction occurs between two solid surfaces in contact as they attempt to move relative to one another. In daily life, dry friction is encountered in various forms, such as when walking on the ground, sliding an object across a table, or rubbing hands together. Despite its ubiquity, the underlying mechanisms behind dry friction are not readily visible.
To illustrate this concept, imagine a wooden crate resting on a rough, non-uniform horizontal surface. When an external force is applied to...
To illustrate this concept, imagine a wooden crate resting on a rough, non-uniform horizontal surface. When an external force is applied to...
996
02:31Protection of Alcohols
8.1K
This lesson delves into the concept of protection and deprotection of a functional group fundamental to synthetic organic chemistry. These phenomena are explained in the context of aliphatic and aromatic alcohols.
Protection
It defines a protecting group as the masking agent to make the more reactive species inert to a given set of conditions. This concept is depicted via the illustration of liquid flow through different outlets in an assembly of pipes. The analogy helps to understand the role...
Protection
It defines a protecting group as the masking agent to make the more reactive species inert to a given set of conditions. This concept is depicted via the illustration of liquid flow through different outlets in an assembly of pipes. The analogy helps to understand the role...
8.1K