The isolation of exosomes or extracellular vesicles (EVs) is performed by positive selection using MicroBeads recognizing the tetraspanin proteins CD9, CD63, or CD81. First, EVs are magnetically labeled during a short incubation period. The labeled EVs are loaded onto a µ Column, which is placed in the magnetic field of a µMACS
™ Separator. The magnetically labeled EVs are retained within the column, while the unlabeled vesicels and cell components run through the column. After removing the column from the magnetic field, the intact EVs can either be collected by elution with Isolation Buffer, or directly lysed in the column and the protein in the lysates can be analyzed, e.g., by Western blotting.