The last decade has seen a sharp increase in the number of scientific publications describing physiological and pathological functions of extracellular vesicles (EVs), a collective term covering various subtypes of cell-released, membranous structures, called exosomes, microvesicles, microparticles, ectosomes, oncosomes, apoptotic bodies, and many other names. However, specific issues arise when working with these entities, whose size and amount often make them difficult to obtain as relatively pure preparations, and to characterize properly. The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) proposed Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles (“MISEV”) guidelines for the field in 2014. We now update these “MISEV2014” guidelines based on evolution of the collective knowledge in the last four years. An important point to consider is that ascribing a specific function to EVs in general, or to subtypes of EVs, requires reporting of specific information beyond mere description of function in a crude, potentially contaminated, and heterogeneous preparation. For example, claims that exosomes are endowed with exquisite and specific activities remain difficult to support experimentally, given our still limited knowledge of their specific molecular machineries of biogenesis and release, as compared with other biophysically similar EVs. The MISEV2018 guidelines include tables and outlines of suggested protocols and steps to follow to document specific EV-associated functional activities. Finally, a checklist is provided with summaries of key points.

过去十年，描述细胞外囊泡（EV）生理和病理功能的科学出版物数量急剧增加，这是一个涵盖细胞释放膜结构各种亚型的统称，称为外泌体、微囊泡、微粒、胞外体、肿瘤体、凋亡小体以及许多其他名称。然而，在使用这些实体时会出现一些具体问题，这些实体的大小和数量往往使它们难以作为相对纯净的制剂获得并正确表征。国际细胞外囊泡学会 (ISEV) 于 2014 年提出了该领域的细胞外囊泡研究最小信息 (“MISEV”) 指南。我们现在根据过去四年集体知识的演变更新这些“MISEV2014”指南。需要考虑的重要一点是，将特定功能归于一般的电动汽车或电动汽车的亚型，需要报告特定信息，而不仅仅是简单描述原始的、可能受到污染的和异质制剂中的功能。例如，与其他生物物理相似的 EV 相比，鉴于我们对外泌体的生物发生和释放的特定分子机制的了解仍然有限，关于外泌体被赋予精致和特定活性的说法仍然难以通过实验得到支持。MISEV2018 指南包括建议协议的表格和大纲以及记录特定电动汽车相关功能活动时应遵循的步骤。最后，提供了一份清单，其中包含要点摘要。