Optimal Isolation Method of Small Extracellular Vesicles from Rat Plasma

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) mediate cell–to–cell communication. We recently reported that circulating sEVs regulate systolic blood pressure in an animal model of human systemic hypertension. However, the underlying mechanisms still remain to be elucidated. As the first step for detailed analyses, we sought to increase the yield and purity of sEVs isolated from rat plasma. We compared the concentration and size distribution of sEVs as well as protein expression of the sEV marker and contaminants among plasma sEVs isolated by the ultracentrifugation (UC) method, the precipitation with polyethylene-glycol and ultracentrifugation (PEG-UC) method, or the precipitation with polyethylene-glycol (PEG) method. Effects of anticoagulants were also examined. The total concentration of plasma sEVs isolated by the PEG or PEG-UC method was much higher than that of the UC method. In the plasma sEVs isolated by the PEG-UC method, contaminating proteins were lower, while the protein expression of certain sEV markers was higher than that of the PEG method. There was no significant difference in total concentration or protein expression of sEV markers in sEVs isolated from rat plasma treated with three different anticoagulants (heparin, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, or acid citrate dextrose buffer) by the PEG-UC method. We, for the first time, determined that the PEG-UC method was optimal for sEV isolation from rat plasma.