*Extracellular Vesicles as Intercellular Communication Vehicles in Regenerative Medicine DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101530*

**Table 1.**

*Classification of EVs and their main characteristics.*

#### **Figure 2.**

*The biogenesis of EVs. (a) Exosomes are produced from early endosomes (EE) and endosomal pathway (ESCRT) and released into extracellular space by fusion of multivesicular bodies (MVBs) with the plasma membrane; (b) microvesicles are produced by direct outward budding of the plasma membrane, with the involvement of cytoskeleton elements (like ARF6 and RhoA) or ESCRT; (c) apoptotic bodies are released into extracellular space by apoptotic cells; (d) oncosomes are secreted by shedding of plasma membrane blebs of cancer cells. Created with BioRender.com (last accessed on September 21, 2021).*

the largest EVs. The content of oncosomes is represented by elements involved in the evolution of cancer and metastasis, like oncogenic proteins, miRNA, and enzymes for amino acid, glucose, or glutamine metabolism [6, 47].

3.*Apoptotic bodies* are a particular type of EVs measuring between 50 nm and 5000 nm. There are few studies related to apoptotic bodies and thus their characteristics are not well known. Their biogenesis is related to the separation between cytoskeleton and plasma membrane of the cell, because of cell contraction and consequently increased hydrostatic pressure, afterward being released into extracellular space by apoptotic cells [6, 50].

The composition of apoptotic bodies consists of chromatin, low levels of glycosylated proteins, and intact organelles, including proteins associated with the mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, and nucleus [6, 51].

The biogenesis and main characteristics of the EVs are summarized in **Table 1** and **Figure 2**.
