Fig. 1

a Experimental design. EVs: Extracellular Vesicles b Scatterplot showing the somatic cell count (SCC) of the Control group, the Low SCC and the High SCC on a logarithmic scale. Lower-case letters denote significant differences (P < 0.05) after applying non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s multiple comparisons tests. c Diameter distribution of milk cells in one High SCC (red), Low SCC (yellow) and Control (Green) sample, respectively. d Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation of isolated milk EVs. Black arrows indicate microvesicles and exosomes; white ovals highlight non-vesicles and white arrows point at shapeless aggregations with low electron density [29]. e Representative graphs of size distribution from three milk EVs samples measured with tunable resistive pulse sensing technology. f Western blot characterization for the EVs protein markers CXN, TSG101, CD81, CD9 and MFGE8. The absence of CXN suggests no contamination during the isolation with intracellular debris; L: Ladder; 1-9: Milk EVs pellets; MG: Mammary gland tissue; MF: Milk Fat; MC: Milk cells. Full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Fig. S4