Placental Exosomes as Biomarkers for Maternal Diseases: Current Advances in Isolation, Characterization, and Detection

Abstract

Serving as the interface between fetal and maternal circulation, the placenta plays a critical role in fetal growth and development. Placental exosomes are small membrane-bound extracellular vesicles released by the placenta during pregnancy. They contain a variety of biomolecules, including lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids, which can potentially be biomarkers of maternal diseases. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated the utility of placental exosomes for the diagnosis and monitoring of pathological conditions such as pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes. This suggests that placental exosomes may serve as new biomarkers in liquid biopsy analysis. This review provides an overview of the current understanding of the biological function of placental exosomes and their potential as biomarkers of maternal diseases. Additionally, this review highlights current barriers and the way forward for standardization and validation of known techniques for exosome isolation, characterization, and detection. Finally, microfluidic devices for exosome research are discussed.

Engineering Cell Membranes: From Extraction Strategies to Emerging Biosensing Applications

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“…Human Wharton’s jelly derived mesenchymal stem cells (hWJ-MSCs) can produce exosomes isolated with high purity via the sucrose cushion method when compared to ultracentrifugation (UC) and commercially available reagent (CR) . However, nanotechnology-based exosomes isolation is also an effective method. − …”

Thermosensitive Capturer Coupled with the CD63 Aptamer for Highly Efficient Isolation of Exosomes

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