Research Progress on Extracellular Exosome Isolation and Enrichment Techniques

Exosomes are nanoscale vesicles that encapsulate a broad spectrum of bioactive molecules, including proteins, lipids, mRNA, miRNA, lncRNA, and DNA, and are present in various biological fluids, such as blood, saliva, and urine, where they serve as key mediators in intercellular communication and play critical roles in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of current techniques for exosome isolation and enrichment, along with a detailed comparative analysis of their performance characteristics.

Studies concerning exosome isolation and enrichment were systematically reviewed and organized based on methodological approaches, with a particular focus on the principles, procedures, and comparative features of each technique.

The principal isolation strategies comprise ultracentrifugation, polymer-based precipitation, filtration, size exclusion chromatography, immunoaffinity capture, and microfluidics-based techniques. Exosome enrichment approaches can be broadly categorized into physical methods (centrifugation, precipitation, filtration, and size exclusion chromatography) and biological methods (immunomagnetic bead-based technique).

Exosomes hold considerable potential in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic evaluation of clinical diseases. Efficient isolation and enrichment are prerequisites for downstream analyses and applications. Advances in these methodologies are therefore critical for translating exosome research into effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.