Outline
The field of extracellular vesicles (EVs) currently attracts substantial attention in biomedicine due to the proposed role of EVs in various biological processes and their potential of serving as biomarkers for diseases. However, the availability of approaches for reliable and reproducible standardised quantification of EVs is limited. Therefore, current interest in EV research urges reliable tools of standardization and accurate enumeration of EVs, preferably on the basis of lipid quantification. By definition, EVs are surrounded by phospholipid bilayers, therefore, lipids (such as phospholipids and cholesterol) are essential components of all EVs. The method of the invention avoids the overestimation of EV concentration based on the protein measurement, as it focuses on the defining component of EVs, the lipid bilayer. Our method can be used virtually in any standard laboratories where a fume hood, a thermoblock, and a spectrophotometer are available. The application does not require expensive equipment, therefore it can be an easy, reliable and quick method for quantification of EVs and standardisation of EV experiments.