Microvesicles from Blood Plasma Observed by Electron Microscopy

Lateral redistribution of molecules in cell membrane may result in budding and shedding of vesicles smaller than micrometer, called microvesicles. Microvesicles reflect in their cha­racteristics the state and type of cells wherefrom they originate. The state of cells may be changed in diseases therefore also microvesicles, which originate from those cells, characte­ristically represent the disease and are an interesting potential diagnostic tool. Despite nume­rous studies and publications there is still no standard protocol for microvesicle isolation and characterisation from the peripheral blood. In this work we used electron microscopy as a pos­sible tool for characterisation of microvesicles and for determination of possible artefacts acqui­red in the isolation procedure. Scanning electron microscopy proved useful for determination of three-dimensional form of microvesicles. Transmission electron microscopy enabled the insight into inner structure of microvesicles.