Isolation and characterization of human amniotic fluid and SH-SY5Y/BE(2)-M17 cell derived exosomes

The application of stem cells as a therapy for degenerative disease holds great promise. Substantial evidence suggests that stem cell derived exosomes are a novel cell-free therapy for the corresponding cells. Exosomes are less complex as compared to their parental cells, due to the fewer number of membrane proteins. In addition, the smaller size and lower risk of immunogenicity makes exosomes potentially safe therapeutic nano-carriers. A large number of ongoing research studies are focused on characterizing exosomes that were derived from different sources, for their potential use in various therapeutic applications. In the present study, we focused on characterizing human amniotic fluid stem cell derived exosomes for future therapeutic applications, such as paracrine therapy/nano carrier. In addition, we characterized exosomes derived from SH-SY5Y and BE(2)-M17 cells, which are a known neuronal model, for further characteristic analyses of neuronal differentiation and neurobiology. Finally, we compared various exosome isolation techniques and procedures and evaluated exosome yield.