What are the challenges of exosome research?

Despite huge progress in this field, exosome research still faces several challenges that scientists are working to overcome. Some of the common challenges of exosome research include:

• Limited understanding of the biological significance of these structures and their basic physiological functions poses the single biggest challenge of exosome research. 
• Absence of standardized exosome isolation and purification protocols poses another challenge for exosome research. Exosome research involves diverse isolation and characterization techniques, each of which has its own limitations. This lack of standardized protocols and variation in the results between different techniques makes it difficult to ensure consistency and reliability in exosome research.
• Storage conditions also create a significant obstacle for scientists. Currently, samples are stored at freezing temperatures below biochemical reactivity. However, exosomal aggregates that may form during the freeze-thaw cycles can skew the results of the experiment. 
• Another challenge for exosome research stems from the discrepancy in exosome nomenclature between research groups. All exosomes are extracellular vesicles. However, not all extracellular vesicles are exosomes. The challenge arises because the two can be of similar sizes, resulting in different research groups drawing different experimental conclusions about exosomes vs. extracellular vesicles.