Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 7, 2025
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Paper-based Devices for Isolation and Characterization of Extracellular Vesicles
Published on: April 3, 2015
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Exploring the adhesion properties of extracellular vesicles for functional assays
Bianca C Pachane1,2, Bess Carlson1, Suzanne E Queen1
1Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|November 18, 2024
Summary
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can be effectively immobilized on standard borosilicate glass coverslips for imaging. Poly-L-lysine enhances uniform distribution, enabling broader EV population analysis without expensive reagents.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Materials Science
- Microscopy
Background:
- Extracellular vesicles (EVs) exhibit
- stickiness
- posing challenges for processing and storage.
- This adhesive property, however, can be leveraged for immobilizing EVs on surfaces for advanced measurement techniques like super-resolution microscopy (SRM).
- Direct surface immobilization offers potential for examining larger EV populations compared to affinity-based methods, which often require specialized and costly reagents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interaction of EVs with borosilicate glass and quartz coverslips.
- To evaluate the effect of poly-L-lysine (PLL) pre-coating on EV immobilization.
- To compare mounting media for SRM imaging and assess immobilized EVs in a B-cell interaction assay.
Main Methods:
- EVs were applied to borosilicate glass and quartz coverslips.
- Coverslips were tested with and without poly-L-lysine (PLL) pre-coating.
- Super-resolution microscopy (SRM) was used for imaging immobilized EVs, followed by a B-cell interaction test.
Main Results:
- Borosilicate glass coverslips demonstrated superior EV immobilization compared to quartz glass coverslips.
- Poly-L-lysine (PLL) was found to enhance the uniform distribution of EVs on borosilicate glass but was not essential for retention.
- Immobilized EVs were successfully utilized in a B-cell interaction test.
Conclusions:
- Standard borosilicate glass coverslips provide an effective platform for immobilizing EVs for imaging applications.
- The use of PLL can improve EV distribution uniformity on borosilicate glass.
- These findings support the use of readily available lab materials for EV immobilization in techniques like SRM.
