Proteomics profiling of CD4+T-cell-derived exosomes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Abstract

Our study profiled the CD4+T-cell-derived exosomes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using proteomics. Proteomic analysis of CD4+T-cell-derived exosomes was performed by tandem mass tags (TMT) combined with LC-MS/MS. We validated the most significantly upregulated and downregulated proteins using ELISA and WB. The proteomic results showed that there were 3 upregulated differentially expressed proteins and 31 downregulated differentially expressed proteins in the RA group. The results indicated that dihydropyrimidinase-related protein 3 (DPYSL3) was significantly upregulated in CD4+T-cell-derived exosomes, whereas proteasome activator complex subunit 1 (PSME1) was significantly downregulated in the RA group. Bioinformatics analysis showed that proteins were enriched in "positive regulation of gene expression", "antigen processing and presentation", "acute-phase response" and "PI3K-AKT signaling" pathways. ELISA verified that compared to the control group, the RA group showed significant upregulation of DPYSL3, and downregulation of PSME1 in CD4+T-cell-derived exosomes. The proteomic analysis results of CD4+T-cell-derived exosomes from patients with RA suggest that these differentially expressed proteins may be involved in RA pathogenesis. DPYSL3 and PSME1 may become useful biomarkers for RA.