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A Holistic Review of the State‐of‐the‐Art Microfluidics for Exosome Separation: An Overview of the Current Status, Existing Obstacles, and Future Outlook
Author(s) -
Ding Lihua,
Yang Xiaonan,
Gao Zibo,
Effah Clement Yaw,
Zhang Xiaoju,
Wu Yongjun,
Qu Lingbo
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.202007174
Subject(s) - microfluidics , nanotechnology , exosome , extracellular vesicles , context (archaeology) , software portability , microvesicles , computer science , isolation (microbiology) , current (fluid) , biochemical engineering , data science , risk analysis (engineering) , biology , bioinformatics , materials science , engineering , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , electrical engineering , paleontology , microrna , biochemistry , gene , programming language
Exosomes, a class of small extracellular vesicles (30–150 nm), are secreted by almost all types of cells into virtually all body fluids. These small vesicles are attracting increasing research attention owing to their potential for disease diagnosis and therapy. However, their inherent heterogeneity and the complexity of bio‐fluids pose significant challenges for their isolation. Even the “gold standard,” differential centrifugation, suffers from poor yields and is time‐consuming. In this context, recent developments in microfluidic technologies have provided an ideal system for exosome extraction and these devices exhibit some fascinating properties such as high speeds, good portability, and low sample volumes. In this review, the focus is on the state‐of‐the‐art microfluidic technologies for exosome isolation and highlight potential directions for future research and development by analyzing the challenges faced by the current strategies.