Large Extracellular Vesicles (LEV)

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bound particles released by cells into their surroundings, broadly classified by size and biogenesis route into large EVs (LEVs, roughly 200 nm and above) and small EVs (SEVs, roughly under 200 nm, including classical exosomes). Different EV subclasses can derive from distinct intracellular membrane compartments — for example, some large EV populations arise from mitochondrial and autophagosomal membranes via autophagy-machinery-dependent secretion — and can carry distinct cargo that shapes their downstream signaling effects on recipient cells. Characterization of EV subclasses follows community guidelines such as MISEV2023, which recommends these size-based “large/small EV” labels as operational terms to be used cautiously, since measured diameter depends on the separation and characterization method used.