Fig. 2

Characterization of plasma extracellular vesicles (EVs) from the colorectal cancer patients. A Concentration (mean ± standard error) and (B) mode size (mean ± standard error) of vesicles (n = 16) measured by Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA). The mean value of each cancer type was compared by Mann–Whitney U test (ns, not significant). C NTA histogram (concentration and size (mean ± standard error) for the experiment) of three combined 60-s videos from a representative EV sample. D Western blot images of the EV markers CD63, CD9, and ALIX and contamination markers GM130 and APOA1 expression in EVs from one patient. HCT116 colorectal cancer cells were used as positive control (Pos ctr). Full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Figure S1. E Transmission electron microscopy images of EVs from one patient. The positions of the zoom in panels within the wide-field views are indicated by black boxes; scale bars are 200 nm (black) and 500 nm (black and white)