This study was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (3157270). We thank Dr. Feng Shao (National Institute of Biological Sciences, China) for providing iBMDM.

1. Isolation of small extracellular vesicles
NOTE: Perform all centrifugation in steps 1.1-1.11 at 4 &#176;C.
<ol>
	<li>Preparation of sEVs-free fetal bovine serum (FBS): Centrifuge FBS overnight at 110,000 &#215; g at 4 &#176;C through an ultracentrifuge (see Table of Materials) to remove endogenous sEVs. Collect the supernatant, filter sterilize it with a 0.2 &#181;m ultrafiltration membrane, and store it at -20 &#176;C.</li>
	<li>Plate about 3 x ...

Isolating Small Extracellular Vesicles and Extracting Their Peptidome

<ol>
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W. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Small+bioactive+peptides+for+biomaterials+design+and+therapeutics.">Small bioactive peptides for biomaterials design and therapeutics.</a> Chemical Reviews. 117 (24), 14015-14041 (2017).</li><li>Lotvall, J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Minimal+experimental+requirements+for+definition+of+extracellular+vesicles+and+their+functions:+a+position+statement+from+the+International+Society+for+Extracellular+Vesicles.">Minimal experimental requirements for definition of extracellular vesicles and their functions: a position statement from the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles.</a> Journal of Extracellular Vesicles. 3, 26913 (2014).</li><li>Thery, C., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Minimal+information+for+studies+of+extracellular+vesicles+2018+(MISEV2018):+a+position+statement+of+the+International+Society+for+Extracellular+Vesicles+and+update+of+the+MISEV2014+guidelines.">Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles 2018 (MISEV2018): a position statement of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles and update of the MISEV2014 guidelines.</a> Journal of Extracellular Vesicles. 7 (1), 1535750 (2018).</li><li>Kim, Y. G., Lone, A. M., Saghatelian, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Analysis+of+the+proteolysis+of+bioactive+peptides+using+a+peptidomics+approach.">Analysis of the proteolysis of bioactive peptides using a peptidomics approach.</a> Nature Protocols. 8 (9), 1730-1742 (2013).</li><li>Lyapina, I., Ivanov, V., Fesenko, I. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Peptidome:+Chaos+or+inevitability.">Peptidome: Chaos or inevitability.</a> International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 22 (23), 13128 (2021).</li><li>Keller, M. 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When investigating the function of sEVs, it is imperative to attain high-purity sEVs from complex biological samples to avoid any potential contaminations. A variety of methods for sEVs isolation have been developed13, and among these methods, differential ultracentrifugation-based methods have shown relatively high purity of sEVs. In this study, 200 mL of cell supernatant was collected for 6 h, and about 200-300 &#181;g of sEVs were obtained by differential ultracentrifugation. However, it should...

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) with a diameter of less than 200 nm are present in almost all types of body fluids and secreted by all kinds of cells, including urine, sweat, tears, cerebrospinal fluid, and amniotic fluid1. Initially, sEVs were considered as receptacles for disposing of cellular waste, which led to minimal research in the subsequent decade2. Recently, increasing evidence indicates that sEVs contain specific proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and other metabolites. These molecules are transported to target cells3, contributing to intercellular communication, through which they participate in various biological processes, such as tissue repair, angiogenesis, immunity4 and inflammation5,6, tumor development and metastasis7,8,9, etc.
To facilitate the study of sEVs, it is imperative to isolate sEVs from complex samples. Different sEVs isolation methods have been developed based on the physical and chemical properties of sEVs, such as their density, particle size, and surface marker proteins. These techniques include ultracentrifugation-based methods, particle size-based methods, immunoaffinity capture-based methods, sEVs precipitation-based methods, and microfluidics-based methods10,11,12. Among these techniques, the ultracentrifugation-based method is widely recognized as the gold standard for sEVs isolation and is the most commonly used technique13.
An increasing amount of evidence suggests the presence of a multitude of undiscovered biologically active peptides in the peptidomes of various organisms. These peptides significantly contribute to numerous physiological processes by regulating growth, development, stress response14,15, and signal transduction16. The objective of sEVs&#39; peptidome is to uncover the peptides carried by these sEVs and provide clues to their biological functions. Here, we present a protocol of isolating sEVs through differential ultracentrifugation, followed by extraction of peptides from these sEVs for further analysis of their peptidome.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>BCA Protein Assay Kit</td>
			<td>Beyotime Technology</td>
			<td>P0012</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CD9</td>
			<td>Beyotime Technology</td>
			<td>AF1192</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Centrifugal filter tube</td>
			<td>Millipore</td>
			<td>UFC5010BK</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Centrifuge bottles polypropylene</td>
			<td>Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td>357003</td>
			<td>High-speed centrifuge</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Chemiluminescent substrate</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>34580</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dithiothreitol</td>
			<td>Solarbio</td>
			<td>D8220</td>
			<td>100 g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DMEM culture medium</td>
			<td>Cell World</td>
			<td>N?A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>GRP94</td>
			<td>Cell Signaling Technology</td>
			<td>20292</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>High-speed centrifuge</td>
			<td>Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td>Avanti JXN-26</td>
			<td>Centrifuge rotor (JA-25.50)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Immortalized bone marrow-derived macrophages (iBMDM)</td>
			<td>National Institute of Biological Sciences, China</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Provided by Dr. Feng Shao (National Institute of Biological Sciences, China)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Iodoacetamide</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>l1149</td>
			<td>5 g</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Microfuge tube polypropylene</td>
			<td>Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td>357448</td>
			<td>1.5 mL, Tabletop ultracentrifuge&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>nano-high-performance LC system</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>EASY-nLC 1000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nanoparticle tracking analysis&#160;</td>
			<td>Malvern Panalytical</td>
			<td>NanoSight LM10</td>
			<td>NanoSight NTA3.4</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Orbitrap Q Exactive HF-X mass spectrometer</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phosphate-buffered saline</td>
			<td>Solarbio</td>
			<td>P1020</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Polyallomer centrifuge tubes</td>
			<td>Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td>326823</td>
			<td>Ultracentrifuge</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Protease inhibitor</td>
			<td>Bimake</td>
			<td>B14002</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SpeedVac vacuum concentrator</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td>Concentrator plus</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tabletop ultracentrifuge</td>
			<td>Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td>Optima MAX-XP</td>
			<td>Ultracentrifuge rotor (TLA 55)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Transmission electron microscope</td>
			<td>HITACHI</td>
			<td>H-7650B</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>TSG101</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>AF8258</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ultracentrifuge</td>
			<td>Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td>Optima XPN-100</td>
			<td>Ultracentrifuge rotor (SW32 Ti)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ultrasonic cell disruptor</td>
			<td>Scientz</td>
			<td>SCIENTZ-IID</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Western Blot imager</td>
			<td>Bio-Rad</td>
			<td>ChemiDocXRs</td>
			<td>Image lab 4.0 (beta 7)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&#946;-actin</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>A3853</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

identification of peptides of small extracellular vesicles from bone marrow-derived macrophages

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are typically secreted by the exocytosis of multivesicular bodies (MVBs). These nanovesicles with a diameter of &lt;200 nm are present in various body fluids. These sEVs regulate various biological processes such as gene transcription and translation, cell proliferation and survival, immunity and inflammation through their cargos, such as proteins, DNA, RNA, and metabolites. Currently, various techniques have been developed for sEVs isolation. Among them, the ultracentrifugation-based method is considered the gold standard and is widely used for sEVs isolation. The peptides are naturally biomacromolecules with less than 50 amino acids in length. These peptides participate in a variety of biological processes with biological activity, such as hormones, neurotransmitters, and cell growth factors. The peptidome is intended to systematically analyze endogenous peptides in specific biological samples by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Here, we introduced a protocol to isolate sEVs by differential ultracentrifugation and extracted peptidome for identification by LC-MS/MS. This method identified hundreds of sEVs-derived peptides from bone marrow-derived macrophages.

Author Spotlight: Peptidome Extraction from Small Extracellular Vesicles Isolated from Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages 

Identification of Peptides of Small Extracellular Vesicles from Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages

We explore the functional roles of extracellular vesicles in innate immunity. We have developed a protocol to isolate small extracellular vesicles, or sEVs, via differential ultracentrifugation and identify the peptidome by LC-MS/MS, revealing the key biological functions of the peptides in sEVs. The extracellular vesicles have been shown to mediate intercellular communication by transporting cargo to recipient cells, such as proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids.By releasing antimicrobial components, they act the first line of defense against invading microbes in innate immunity. While differential ultracentrifugation yields highly pure small extracellular sEVs, it can be time-consuming and often results in low yields. In our study, these are major challenges for the stable identification of low-abundance peptides in the sEVs.

For the sEVs isolated by differential ultracentrifugation (Figure 1), we evaluated their morphology, particle size distribution, and protein markers according to the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV)17.
First, the morphology of sEVs was observed by TEM, showing a typical cup-like structure (Figure 2A). NTA showed that isolated sEVs were mostly concentrated at 136 nm (F...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Peptidome Extraction from Small Extracellular Vesicles Isolated from Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages at JoVE.com

This protocol describes a procedure to isolate small extracellular vesicles from macrophages by differential ultracentrifugation and extract the peptidome for identification by mass spectrometry.

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are typically secreted by the exocytosis of multivesicular bodies (MVBs). These nanovesicles with a diameter of ...