Several NIH Common Fund Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium (ERCC) awardees, in collaboration with NIH and international researchers, developed a public resource to support further research and collaboration on the study of extracellular particles, which are tiny particles that exist in body fluids outside of cells, such as in blood. Due to their small size, extracellular particles can easily move through the body and aid in the development, tissue repair, and regeneration of organ systems. Research has found that extracellular particles can potentially serve as a way to deliver therapeutic materials to damaged or diseased cells.

Extracellular particles vary in size, density, contents, and origin, which makes it hard to categorize them and determine their functions. Researchers used a technique called “nanoflow” to separate and analyze extracellular particles. However, because of the small size and diversity of extracellular particles, nanoflow experiments are very sensitive to different conditions. This makes reproducing experiments, examining previous findings, collaborating between labs, and analyzing different data on this research difficult.

This team established the NanoFlow Repository to provide a place for researchers to share their extracellular particle data in more detail. The repository standardizes data descriptions and makes it easier to report on design parameters, instruments, and other factors that went into the experiments. The NanoFlow Repository is freely available online and, at the time of this report, holds 61 datasets made of over 2,000 files. The NanoFlow Repository provides a tool for structuring data from all over the world based on a framework of standards. It aligns with efforts to promote minimum reporting guidelines and sharing of data in biomedical research. It also supports open science that may one day inform treatment development for diseases like cancer or Alzheimer’s.

Reference: Arce JE, Welsh JA, Cook A, Tigges J, Ghiran I, Jones JC, Jackson A, Roth M, Milosavljevic A. 2023. The NanoFlow Repository.Bioinformatics 39(6):btad368. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btad368.