Blood Exosomes Research Articles

CircRNA, lncRNA, and mRNA profiles of umbilical cord blood exosomes from preterm newborns showing bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) represents a multifactorial chronic pulmonary pathology and a major factor causing premature illness and death. The therapeutic role of exosomes in BPD has been feverishly investigated. Meanwhile, the potential roles of exosomal circRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs in umbilical cord blood (UCB) serum have not been studied. This study aimed to detect the expression profiles of circRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs in UCB-derived exosomes of infants with BPD. Microarray analysis was performed to compare the RNA profiles of UCB-derived exosomes of a preterm newborn with (BPD group) and without (non-BPD, NBPD group) BPD. Then, circRNA/lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA co-expression networks were built to determine their association with BPD. In addition, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to evaluate the proliferation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B cells) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-1β in LPS-induced BEAS-2B cells and HUVECs were assessed through Western blot analysis. Then, quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction assay was used to evaluate the expression levels of four differentially expressed circRNAs (hsa_circ_0086913, hsa_circ_0049170, hsa_circ_0087059, and hsa_circ_0065188) and two lncRNAs (small nucleolar RNA host gene 20 (SNHG20) and LINC00582) detected in LPS-induced BEAS-2B cells or HUVECs. A total of 317 circRNAs, 104 lncRNAs, and 135 mRNAs showed significant differential expression in UCB-derived exosomes of preterm infants with BPD compared with those with NBPD. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were conducted to examine differentially expressed exosomal circRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs. The results showed that the GO terms and KEGG pathways mostly involving differentially expressed exosomal RNAs were closely associated with endothelial or epithelial cell development. In vitro, CCK-8 and Western blot assays revealed that LPS remarkably inhibited the viability and promoted inflammatory responses (TNF-α and IL-1β) of BEAS-2B cells or HUVECs. The expression levels of circRNAs hsa_circ_0049170 and hsa_circ_0087059 were upregulated in LPS-induced BEAS-2B cells; the expression level of hsa_circ_0086913 was upregulated and that of hsa_circ_0065188 was downregulated in LPS-induced HUVECs. Moreover, the expression level of lncRNA SNHG20 was upregulated and that of LINC00582 was downregulated in LPS-induced BEAS-2B cells. Further, 455 circRNA/lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA interaction networks were predicted, including hsa_circ_0086913/hsa-miR-103a-3p/transmembrane 4 L six family member 1 (TM4SF1) and lncRNA-SNHG20/hsa-miR-6720-5p/spermine synthase (SMS) networks, which may take part in BPD.Conclusion: This study provided a systematic perspective on UCB-derived exosomal circRNAs and lncRNAs and laid an important foundation for further investigating the potential biological functions of exosomal circRNAs and lncRNAs in BPD.What is Known:• BPD represents a multifactorial chronic pulmonary pathology and a major factor causing premature illness and death.• The therapeutic role of exosomes in BPD has been feverishly investigated, and exosomal RNAs were ignored.What is New:• The profiles of UCB-derived exosomal circRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs were performed.• Several differentially expressed circRNAs and lncRNAs were identified in LPS-induced BEAS-2B cells and HUVECs.

MicroRNA-29c-3p in dual-labeled exosome is a potential diagnostic marker of subjective cognitive decline

ObjectiveThe present study aimed to determine whether peripheral blood neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM)/amphiphysin 1 dual-labeled exosomal proteins and microRNAs (miRs) might serve as a marker for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). MethodsThis observational, retrospective, multicenter study used a two-stage design conducted in Beijing and Shanghai, China. The subjects included 76 patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), 80 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), 76 with dementia of Alzheimer's type (AD), 40 with vascular dementia (VaD), and 40 controls in the discovery stage. These results were confirmed in the verification stage. The levels of Aβ42, Aβ42/40, T-Tau, P-T181-tau, neurofilament light chain (NfL), and miR-29c-3p in peripheral blood amphiphysin 1 single-labeled and NCAM/amphiphysin 1 dual-labeled exosomes were captured and detected by immunoassay. ResultsIn the discovery stage, the levels of Aβ42 and miR-29c-3p in peripheral blood NCAM/amphiphysin 1 dual-labeled exosome of the SCD group were significantly higher than those in control and VaD groups (all P < 0.05). The verification stage further confirmed the results of the discovery stage. Plasma NCAM/amphiphysin 1 dual-labeled exosomal miR-29c-3p showed a good diagnostic performance. The NCAM/amphiphysin 1 dual-labeled exosomal miR-29c-3p had the highest AUC for diagnosis of SCD. The levels of Aβ42, Aβ42/40, Tau, P-T181-tau, and miR-29c-3p in peripheral blood exosomes were correlated to those in CSF (all P < 0.05). The combination of exosomal biomarkers had slightly higher diagnostic efficiency than the individual biomarkers and that the exosomal biomarkers had the same diagnostic power as the CSF biomarkers. ConclusionThe plasma NCAM/amphiphysin 1 dual-labeled exosomal miR-29c-3p had potential advantages in the diagnosis of SCD.

Association Between Mitochondrial Function and Rehabilitation of Parkinson's Disease: Revealed by Exosomal mRNA and lncRNA Expression Profiles.

Rehabilitation has been proposed as a valid measure complementary to the management of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the mechanism underlying is not clear yet. The differential expressions of exosomal messenger RNA (mRNA) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) may play a critical role in PD progression and rehabilitation. To compare the differential expressions of exosomal mRNAs and lncRNAs, patients with PD (PWPs, Hoehn and Yahr stages 1.5-2.5, n = 6) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs, n = 6) were included in this study. All PWPs received a 2-week rehabilitation treatment in the hospital, which seemingly led to improvement in both the motor and non-motor functions. A set of differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs) and differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) extracted from exosomes in blood samples via next-generation sequencing (NGS) was screened out. Compared to HCs, 2,337 vs. 701 mRNAs and 1,278 vs. 445 lncRNAs were significantly upregulated and significantly downregulated, respectively, in pre-rehabilitation (pre-rehab) PWPs; 2,490 vs. 629 mRNAs and 1,561 vs. 370 lncRNAs were significantly upregulated and significantly downregulated, respectively, in post-rehabilitation (post-rehab) PWPs. Compared to pre-rehab PWPs, 606 vs. 1,056 mRNAs and 593 vs. 1,136 lncRNAs were significantly upregulated and significantly downregulated, respectively, in post-rehab PWPs. Overall, 14 differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs) and 73 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) were expressed in the blood exosomes of HCs, pre- and post-rehab PWPs, simultaneously. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses identified 243 significantly co-expressed lncRNA-mRNA pairs. One DEmRNA of interest (ENSG00000099795, NDUFB7) and three corresponding DElncRNAs (ENST00000564683, ENST00000570408, and ENST00000628340) were positively related. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) validated that the expression levels of NDUFB7 mRNA and the 3 DElncRNAs increased significantly in pre-rehab PWPs, but decreased significantly in post-rehab PWPs compared to HCs. NDUFB7 mRNA is a marker related to mitochondrial respiration. It is reasonably believed that mitochondrial function is associated with PD rehabilitation, and the mitochondrial pathway may involve in the pathogenesis of PD.

Abstract 3417: Effects of plasma exosome isolation methods on detectable multiomic profiles in cancer patients and healthy controls

Abstract Introduction: Circulating exosomes in blood have been considered as a treasure chest for biomarker discovery in cancer. Due to their heterogeneity, different isolation methods may enrich distinct exosome cargos generating different omic profiles. In this study, we evaluated the effects of plasma exosome isolation methods on detectable multiomic profiles in cancer patients and healthy controls. Methods: Plasma exosomes were isolated from prostate cancer patients (PC; N = 11), lung cancer patients (LC; N = 13), and matched healthy controls (HC; N = 10) using three methods [SBI (size exclusion), Takara (lectin binding), and Wako (Tim4 binding)]. Mass spectrometry was performed to determine exosome lipidome and metabolome profiles. To evaluate group-specific exosome enrichment, we developed an exosome enrichment index (EEI) by summing 50 smallest p-values after log2 transformation. Higher EEI indicates prefrential capture of significant exosome cargos from patients over controls. Results: Our data showed that the SBI method generated the most identified lipids from exosome across all groups (LC = 935, PC = 939, and HC = 943), followed by Takara (245, 245 and 245) and Wako (205, 208 and 213). Compared to controls, LC patients had 31 higher and 5 lower lipid levels (FDR &amp;lt; 0.1) using the SBI and 3 higher and 1 lower level (FDR &amp;lt; 0.1) using Takara. We did not observe any differences between cancer and normal samples using Wako. The most detectable known metabolites were found in exosomes from SBI (LC = 188, PC = 191, and HC = 100), followed by Wako (LC = 107, PC = 107, and HC = 107) and Takara (LC = 99, PC = 100, and HC = 100). Of the metabolites from SBI, 5 were significantly higher (FDR&amp;lt;0.1) in PC patients than in controls. The most significant metabolite in PC was L-Cystathionine, which has been shown to be upregulated in bone-metastatic PC3 cells. Neither Takara nor Wako exosome fractions showed differently expressed metabolites between any groups. Our EEI analysis showed the highest lipid EEI from SBI in PC (474.4) and LC (906.74), while a lower lipid EEI from Takara in PC (359.9), LC (495.58), and Wako in PC (307.5) and LC (148.1). Metabolite EEI showed an EEI range from 590.3 in SBI PC to 185.6 in Takara LC. SBI, again, achieved the highest EEI for both PC and LC (357.3). Conclusion: These results support that the SBI method can capture more heterogeneous exosome populations, possibly because this size exclusion-based method does not discriminate exosomes with different protein components. In contrast, Takara and Wako methods target exosome surface proteins, enriching specific exosome subpopulations resulting in less diversity of detectable lipids and metabolites. Overall, these findings suggest that exosome isolation methods can select subpopulations and determine the exosome content, which will significantly impact exosome-based biomarker discovery. Citation Format: Alex C. Soupir, Paul A. Stewart, Yury Nunez Lopez, Brandon J. Manley, Bruna Pellini, Jingsong Zhang, Qianxing Mo, Douglas C. Marchion, Min Lui, John M. Koomen, Erin M. Siegel, Liang Wang. Effects of plasma exosome isolation methods on detectable multiomic profiles in cancer patients and healthy controls [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 3417.

Detection of neuron-derived pathological α-synuclein in blood.

To date, no reliable clinically applicable biomarker has been established for Parkinson's disease. Our results indicate that a long anticipated blood test for Parkinson's disease may be realized. Following the isolation of neuron-derived extracellular vesicles of Parkinson's disease patients and non-Parkinson's disease individuals, immunoblot analyses were performed to detect extracellular vesicle-derived α-synuclein. Pathological α-synuclein forms derived from neuronal extracellular vesicles could be detected under native conditions and were significantly increased in all individuals with Parkinson's disease and clearly distinguished disease from the non-disease state. By performing an α-synuclein seeding assay these soluble conformers could be amplified and seeding of pathological protein folding was demonstrated. Amplified α-synuclein conformers exhibited β-sheet-rich structures and a fibrillary appearance. Our study demonstrates that the detection of pathological α-synuclein conformers from neuron-derived extracellular vesicles from blood plasma samples has the potential to evolve into a blood-biomarker of Parkinson's disease that is still lacking so far. Moreover, the distribution of seeding-competent α-synuclein within blood exosomes sheds a new light of pathological disease mechanisms in neurodegenerative disorders.

Exosome-Derived miRNAs as Potential Biomarkers for Prostate Bone Metastasis

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to identify the potential exosome-derived microRNAs (miRNAs) related to prostate cancer (Pca) bone metastasis.MethodsTwo datasets were collected. One dataset was from the authors’ institute, for which two groups of 10 patients each were designed: in the first one, the patients had early-stage localised Pca without bone metastasis, and in the other, the patients presented with Pca with bone metastasis. Then, the miRNA expression profiles of the blood exosomes were obtained and analysed. The other dataset was a public dataset of the miRNA expression transcriptome (GSE26964), which was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). The results of both datasets were jointly analysed and the most bone-metastatic-related differentially expressed miRNAs (diff-miRNAs) were identified and further validated. Finally, a series of bioinformatics analyses were performed and the relationship between target genes of the diff-miRNAs and the pathogenesis and progression of bone metastasis of Pca were studied.ResultsFrom the authors’ dataset, in all, 313 diff-miRNAs were identified, of which 205 were up-regulated while 108 were down-regulated. From the GSE26964 dataset, 107 diff-miRNAs were found, of which 44 were up-regulated and 63 were down-regulated. Taking the intersection of the results of both datasets, four diff-miRNAs were identified: hsa-miR-125a-3p, hsa-miR-330-3p, hsa-miR-339-5p and hsa-miR-613. In all, 94 target genes of the four diff-miRNAs were predicted. After considering the intersection of the results from the GSE32269 dataset, we obtained 25 target genes. Although either positive or negative correlations were found among the diff-miRNAs with some of the target genes, there is a lack of evidence on how such correlations regulate the development and promotion of Pca bone metastasis.ConclusionHsa-miR-125a-3p, hsa-miR-330-3p, hsa-miR-339-5p and hsa-miR-613 are potential biomarkers for Pca bone metastasis.

Bioinformatics Analysis to Find Novel Biomarkers for Coronary Heart Disease.

Coronary heart disease (CHD), a major cause of death worldwide, is defined as a narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries that supply oxygen and blood to the heart. We aimed to find potential biomarkers for coronary artery disease, by comparing the expression profile of blood exosomes of both normal and CHD samples. Datasets of 6 CHD and 6 normal samples of blood exosomes were downloaded, and differentially expressed RNAs, with adjusted P<0.01 and log2FoldChange≥1 were achieved. Moreover, gene ontology (GO) and pathway analysis were accomplished by PANTHER database for datasets. Our data analysis found 119 differentially expressed genes between two datasets. By comparing transcriptome profiles, we candidate the highest downregulated gene, ACSBG1, and the highest upregulated one, DEFA4, as specific biomarkers for CHD. Furthermore, GO and pathway analysis depicted that aforementioned differentially expressed genes are mostly involved in different molecular metabolic process, inflammation, immune system process and response to stimulus pathways which all cause cardiovascular diseases. We have provided new potential biomarkers for CHD, though experimental validation is still needed to confirm the suitability of the candidate genes for early detection of CHD.

Potential Mechanism Underlying Exercise Upregulated Circulating Blood Exosome miR-215-5p to Prevent Necroptosis of Neuronal Cells and a Model for Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease.

Exercise is crucial for preventing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), although the exact underlying mechanism remains unclear. The construction of an accurate AD risk prediction model is beneficial as it can provide a theoretical basis for preventive exercise prescription. In recent years, necroptosis has been confirmed as an important manifestation of AD, and exercise is known to inhibit necroptosis of neuronal cells. In this study, we extracted 67 necroptosis-related genes and 32 necroptosis-related lncRNAs and screened for key predictive AD risk genes through a random forest analysis. Based on the neural network Prediction model, we constructed a new logistic regression-based AD risk prediction model in order to provide a visual basis for the formulation of exercise prescription. The prediction model had an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.979, indicative of strong predictive power and a robust clinical application prospect. In the exercise group, the expression of exosomal miR-215-5p was found to be upregulated; miR-215-5p could potentially inhibit the expressions of IDH1, BCL2L11, and SIRT1. The single-cell SCENIC assay was used to identify key transcriptional regulators in skeletal muscle. Among them, CEBPB and GATA6 were identified as putative transcriptional regulators of miR-215. After “skeletal muscle removal of load,” the expressions of CEBPB and GATA6 increased substantially, which in turn led to the elevation of miR-215 expression, thereby suggesting a putative mechanism for negative feedback regulation of exosomal homeostasis.

The relationship between serum exosome HBV-miR-3 and current virological markers and its dynamics in chronic hepatitis B patients on antiviral treatment.

BackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV) can encode microRNA-HBV-miR-3, which can be detected in both HBV-infected cell lines and peripheral blood exosomes of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. This study was conducted to further evaluate its relationship with the current viral markers and their dynamics during antiviral therapy.MethodsWe used Stem-loop real time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to quantify HBV-miR-3 in the serum exosomes of CHB patients by extracting exosomes using the Supbio exosome separation kit and designing primers and Taqman probes specific for HBV-miR-3. We conducted a cross-sectional study and two cohort studies. In the cross-sectional study, 48 treatment-naive (TN) CHB patients were enrolled. In the nucleoside analogues (NAs) cohort study, 20 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative CHB patients with negative HBV DNA on NA therapy were followed up for 96 weeks. In the NAs + pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) cohort study, 40 patients with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) <1,500 IU/mL, negative HBV DNA, and HBeAg after NAs treatment were enrolled and were switched to Peg-IFN therapy for 48 weeks. HBV-miR-3 titers and other viral markers were detected at different time points.ResultsHBV-miR-3 only existed in CHB patients with a concentration of 6.41±3.55 log10 copies/mL. HBV-miR-3 was positively correlated with HBV DNA, pregenomic RNA (pgRNA), and HBsAg. In the NAs cohort, HBsAg, pgRNA, and HBV-miR-3 levels showed little fluctuation during the 96 weeks of NA treatment (P>0.05). In the NAs + PEG-IFN cohort, HBsAg, pgRNA, and HBV-miR-3 levels declined significantly during the 48 weeks of sequential therapy (P<0.05).ConclusionsHBV-miR-3 was positively correlated with HBV DNA, pgRNA, and particularly HBsAg in TN CHB patients. Peg-IFN following NA therapy had a positive impact on HBsAg, pgRNA, and HBV-miR-3 decrease.

Amyloid-β protein and MicroRNA-384 in NCAM-Labeled exosomes from peripheral blood are potential diagnostic markers for Alzheimer's disease.

ObjectiveWe aimed to establish a method to determine whether amyloid‐β (Aβ) protein and miR‐384 in peripheral blood neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM)/ATP‐binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) dual‐labeled exosomes may serve as diagnostic markers for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD).MethodsThis was a multicenter study using a two‐stage design. The subjects included 45 subjective cognitive decline (SCD) patients, 50 amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients, 40 AD patients, and 30 controls in the discovery stage. The results were validated in the verification stage in 47 SCD patients, 45 aMCI patients, 45 AD patients, and 30 controls. NCAM single‐labeled and NCAM/ABCA1 double‐labeled exosomes in the peripheral blood were captured and detected by immunoassay.ResultsThe Aβ42, Aβ42/40, Tau, P‐T181‐tau, and miR‐384 levels in NCAM single‐labeled and NCAM/ABCA1 double‐labeled exosomes of the aMCI and AD groups were significantly higher than those of the SCD, control, and vascular dementia (VaD) groups (all p < 0.05). The Aβ42 and miR‐384 levels in NCAM/ABCA1 dual‐labeled exosomes of the aMCI and AD groups were higher than those of the control and VaD groups (all p < 0.05). The exosomal Aβ42, Aβ42/40, Tau, P‐T181‐tau, and miR‐384 levels in peripheral blood were correlated with those in cerebrospinal fluid (all p < 0.05).ConclusionThis study, for the first time, established a method that sorts specific surface marker exosomes using a two‐step immune capture technology. The plasma NCAM/ABCA1 dual‐labeled exosomal Aβ42/40 and miR‐384 had potential advantages in the diagnosis of SCD.

Exosomal RNA Expression Profiles and Their Prediction Performance in Patients With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Macrosomia.

IntroductionExosomes are cell-derived vesicles that are present in many biological fluids. Exosomal RNAs in cord blood may allow intercellular communication between mother and fetus. We aimed to establish exosomal RNA expression profiles in cord blood from patients with gestational diabetes mellitus and macrosomia (GDM-M) and evaluate their prediction performance.MethodsWe used microarray technology to establish the differential messenger RNA (mRNA), long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), and circular RNA (circRNA) expression profiles in cord blood exosomes from 3 patients with GDM-M compared with 3 patients with GDM and normal neonatal weight, followed by qPCR validation in an additional 40 patients with GDM. Logistic regression, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and graphical nomogram were applied to evaluate the performance of exosomal RNA (in peripheral blood) in macrosomia prediction.ResultsA total of 98 mRNAs, 372 lncRNAs, and 452 circRNAs were differentially expressed in cord blood exosomes from patients with GDM-M. Pathway analysis based on screening data showed that the differential genes were associated with Phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3acK)-Akt signaling pathway, Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) signaling pathway, Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta signaling pathway, insulin resistance, glycerolipid metabolism, fatty acid degradation, and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. After validation by qPCR, the expressions of GDF3, PROM1, AC006064.4, lnc-HPS6-1:1, and circ_0014635 were significantly increased and the expression of lnc-ZFHX3-7:1 was significantly decreased in cord blood exosomes of an additional 20 patients with GDM-M. The risk prediction performance of the expression of these validated genes (in peripheral blood exosomes) for GDM-related macrosomia was also evaluated. Only GDF3 expression and AC006064.4 expression showed well prediction performance [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.78 and 0.74, respectively]. Excitingly, the model including maternal age, fasting plasma glucose, 2-h plasma glucose, GDF3 expression, and AC006064.4 expression in peripheral blood exosomes had better prediction performance with an AUC of 0.86 (95% CI = 0.75–0.97).ConclusionThese results showed that exosomal RNAs are aberrantly expressed in the cord blood of patients with GDM-M and highlighted the importance of exosomal RNAs in peripheral blood for GDM-M prediction.

Detection of Exogenous γ-Hydroxybutyric Acid in Rat Blood Exosomes.

To find a method to distinguish exogenous gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) from endogenous GHB by establishing ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) based on exosome for quantitative detection of GHB in the rat blood. Adult male SD rats were divided into 1 h, 5 h, 10 h administration group and control group. After 1 h, 5 h and 10 h of single precursor of GHB gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) intraperitoneal injection in administration groups, 5 mL blood was collected from the abdominal aorta. Meanwhile, the control group was given a same dose of normal saline, and 5 mL blood was collected at 1 h. Among the 5 mL blood, 0.5 mL was directly detected by HPLC-MS after pretreatment, and exosomes were extracted from the remaining blood by differential centrifugation and detected. The concentration of GHB in the control group was (87.36±33.48) ng/mL, and the concentration with administration at 1 h, 5 h and 10 h was (110 400.00±1 766.35) ng/mL, (1 479.00±687.01) ng/mL and (133.60±12.17) ng/mL, respectively. The results of exosome detection showed that no peak GHB signal was detected in the control group and the 10 h administration group, and the concentrations of GHB at 1 h and 5 h administration groups were (91.47±33.44) ng/mL and (49.43±7.05) ng/mL, respectively. GHB was detected in blood exosome by UPLC-MS, which indicated that exogenous GHB could be detected in plasma exosomes, while endogenous GHB could not be detected, suggesting that this method may be used as a basis to determine whether there is exogenous drug intake.

Aptamer-Functionalized Barcodes in Herringbone Microfluidics for Multiple Detection of Exosomes.

Tumor-derived exosomes are vital for clinical dynamic and accurate tumor diagnosis, thus developing sensitive and multiple exosomes detection technology has attracted remarkable attention of scientists. Here, a novel herringbone microfluidic device with aptamer-functionalized barcodes integration for specific capture and multiple detection of tumor-derived exosomes is presented. The barcodes with core-shell constructions are obtained by partially replicating the periodically ordered hexagonal close-packaged colloidal crystal beads. As their inverse opal hydrogel shell possesses rich interconnected pores, the barcodes could provide abundant surface area for functionalization of DNA aptamers to realize specific recognition of target exosomes. Besides, the encoded structure colors of the barcodes can be maintained stably during the detection events as their hardish cores are with sufficient mechanical strength. It is demonstrated that by embedding these barcodes in herringbone groove microfluidic device with designed patterns, the specific capture efficiency and synergetic detection of multiple tumor-derived exosomes in peripheral blood can be significantly improved due to enhanced resistance of turbulent flow. These features make the aptamer-functionalized barcodes and herringbone microfluidics integrated platform promising for exosomes extraction and dynamic tumor diagnosis.

Fusion transcripts as liquid biopsy markers in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma and synovial sarcoma: A report of the Cooperative Weichteilsarkom Studiengruppe (CWS).

The possible application of gene fusion transcripts as tumor-specific noninvasive liquid biopsy biomarkers was investigated in blood plasma from patients with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) and synovial sarcoma (SS). Patients entered in the CWS Soft-Tissue Sarcoma Registry (SoTiSaR) with tumors positive for fusion genes and available blood/plasma samples were included in our analysis. Cell-free exosomal RNA was extracted and used to detect PAX-FOXO1 or SYT-SSX fusion transcripts by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The analysis included 112 ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid blood samples from 80 patients (65 with ARMS, 15 with SS; 34 with localized, 46 with metastatic disease). For patients with metastatic ARMS, 62% (n=18) of initial liquid biopsies were positive, and 16 (89%) of them showed initial bone marrow (BM) metastases. For all patients with primary localized ARMS, liquid biopsy was negative at diagnosis. Of the 48 plasma samples collected during therapy and follow-up, five were positive. None of the liquid biopsies from patients with SS were positive. This liquid biopsy assay based on the detection of fusion transcripts in cell-free RNA from blood exosomes is suitable for analysis of patients with ARMS. Results showed good correlation with the initial tumor status; liquid biopsy was positive in 94% of patients with metastatic ARMS and initial BM involvement, whereas biopsies from all patients with localized tumors were negative. Prospective validation and optimization of the assay, as well as its application for other markers in diagnostics and monitoring of soft-tissue sarcoma, are ongoing.

CircOGDH Is a Penumbra Biomarker and Therapeutic Target in Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is a leading cause of disability and mortality worldwide. Prediction of penumbra existence after AIS is crucial for making decision on reperfusion therapy. Yet a fast, inexpensive, simple, and noninvasive predictive biomarker for the poststroke penumbra with clinical translational potential is still lacking. We aim to investigate whether the CircOGDH (circular RNA derived from oxoglutarate dehydrogenase) is a potential biomarker for penumbra in patients with AIS and its role in ischemic neuronal damage. CircOGDH was screened from penumbra of middle cerebral artery occlusion mice and was assessed in plasma of patients with AIS by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine the penumbra volumes. CircOGDH interacted with miR-5112 (microRNA-5112) in primary cortical neurons was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization, RNA immunoprecipitation, and luciferase reporter assay. Adenovirus-mediated CircOGDH knockdown ameliorated neuronal apoptosis induced by COL4A4 (Gallus collagen, type IV, alpha IV) overexpression. Transmission electron microscope, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and Western blot were performed to confirm exosomes. CircOGDH expression was dramatically and selectively upregulated in the penumbra tissue of middle cerebral artery occlusion mice and in the plasma of 45 patients with AIS showing a 54-fold enhancement versus noncerebrovascular disease controls. Partial regression analysis revealed that CircOGDH expression was positively correlated with the size of penumbra in patients with AIS. Sequestering of miR-5112 by CircOGDH enhanced COL4A4 expression to elevate neuron damage. Additionally, knockdown of CircOGDH significantly enhanced neuronal cell viability under ischemic conditions. Furthermore, the expression of CircOGDH in brain tissue was closely related to that in the serum of middle cerebral artery occlusion mice. Finally, we found that CircOGDH was highly expressed in plasma exosomes of patients with AIS compared with those in noncerebrovascular disease individuals. These results demonstrate that CircOGDH is a potential therapeutic target for regulating ischemia neuronal viability, and is enriched in neuron-derived exosomes in the peripheral blood, exhibiting a predictive biomarker of penumbra in patients with AIS.

Downregulation of Talin-1 is associated with the increased expression of miR-182-5p and miR-9-5p in coronary artery disease.

Evidence indicates that the dysregulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) components can lead to cardiovascular diseases. The Talin-1 (TLN1) gene is a major component of the ECM, and it mediates integrin adhesion to the ECM. In this study, we aimed to determine microRNAs (miRs) that regulate the expression of TLN1 and determine expression alterations in TLN1 and its targeting miRs in coronary artery disease (CAD). Data sets of CAD and normal samples of blood exosomes were downloaded, and TLN1 was chosen as one of the genes with differential expressions in an in silico analysis. Next, miR-182-5p and miR-9-5p, which have a binding site on 3´-UTR of TLN1, were selected using bioinformatics tools. Then, the miR target site was cloned in the psiCHECK-2 vector, and direct interaction between the miR target site and the TLN1 3'-UTR putative target site was investigated by luciferase assay. The expression of miR-182-5p, miR-9-5p, and TLN1 in the serum samples of CAD and non-CAD individuals was assessed via a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Our data revealed that miR-182-5p directly regulated the expression of TLN1. Moreover, miR-182-5p and miR-9-5p were significantly upregulated in the CAD group. Hence, both bioinformatics and experimental analyses determined the downregulated expression of TLN1 in the CAD samples. Our findings demonstrated that miR-182-5p and miR-9-5p could play significant roles in TLN1 regulation and participate in CAD development by targeting TLN1. These findings introduce novel biomarkers with a potential role in CAD pathogenesis.

The Neuropeptide-Related HERC5/TAC1 Interactions May Be Associated with the Dysregulation of lncRNA GAS5 Expression in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Exosomes.

Objective The goal of this work was to look at the expression and probable role of exosomal long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) GAS5 in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), as well as forecast the importance of its interaction with neuropeptides in the progression of the disease. Methods We divided 44 pregnant women visiting the obstetric outpatient clinics at the Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical College from January 2021 to December 2021 into healthy and GDM groups. We measured the expression levels of the lncRNA GAS5 in peripheral blood using PCR and compared the expression levels between the 2 groups. The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and the R software were used to analyse the differences in the genes expressed in the amniotic fluid cells in the GDM and normal groups. catRAPID was used to identify potential target proteins for GAS5. Key neuropeptide-related proteins and potential target proteins of GAS5 were extracted, and protein interaction networks were mapped. AlphaFold 2 was used to predict the structure of the target protein. The ClusPro tool was used to predict protein-protein interactions. ZDOCK was used to further confirm the protein–nucleic acid docking. Results The lncRNA GAS5 was downregulated in the peripheral blood of pregnant women with GDM compared with normal pregnant women. The subcellular localization sites of GAS5 were the nucleus, cytoplasm, and ribosome; in addition, GAS5 was present in exosomes. Intercellular interactions, including neuropeptide receptors, were increased in the amniotic fluid cells of patients with GDM. Venn diagram analysis yielded seven neuropeptide-related proteins and three GAS5 target proteins. Among them, HERC5/TAC1 interacted and GAS5 docked well with HERC5. Conclusion The lncRNA GAS5 in the peripheral blood exosomes in patients with GDM may be a new target for the detection of GDM, and the interaction between GAS5 and HERC5/TAC1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of GDM.

Clinical Significance of MiR-27a Expression in Serum Exosomes in Patients with Heart Failure.

To study the clinical significance of miR-27a expression in serum exosomes in patients with heart failure (HF), this study was carried out. Totally 101 chronic heart failure (CHF) patients (research group) admitted to our hospital from April 2016 to January 2019 were enrolled, and another 30 healthy subjects (control group) who underwent physical examination during the same period were selected. The difference of miR-27a expression level in serum exosomes between the two groups of subjects was compared, so as to analyze the diagnostic value of miR-27a in CHF and the relationship between miR-27a expression level and patient prognosis. The expression level of miR-27a in peripheral blood exosomes of subjects in the control group (CG) was significantly higher than that in the research group (RG) (P<0.05), while the miR-27a expression of the latter increased significantly 3 months after treatment (P<0.05). ROC analysis showed that the AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and critical level of miR-27a in the diagnosis of CHF were 0.835, 77.23%, 80.00%, and 1.060 respectively. While after 3 months of treatment, the indicators of the RG effectively improved (P<0.05). Pearson and Sparman correlation analysis revealed that there was a significant linear correlation between miR-27a and each indicator (P<0.05). K-M survival curve analysis demonstrated that the survival rate of patients with high expression of miR-27a was significantly higher than that of patients with low expression (P<0.05). The expression of mR-27a in serum exosomes is decreased in patients with HF and has important potential value in the diagnosis and prognosis of CHF.

Exosomal miR-17-3p Alleviates Programmed Necrosis in Cardiac Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury by Regulating TIMP3 Expression.

Objective Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury can aggravate myocardial injury. Programmed necrosis plays a crucial role in this injury. However, the role of exosomal miRNAs in myocardial I/R injury remains unclear. Therefore, this study is aimed at exploring the function and mechanism of exosomal miR-17-3p in myocardial I/R injury. Methods The myocardial I/R injury animal model was established in C57BL/6 mice. Exosomes were identified using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), and Western blotting. Programmed necrosis was detected by PI staining. Heart function and myocardial infarct size were evaluated using echocardiography and triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, respectively. Histopathological changes were visualized by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson staining. The regulation of TIMP3 expression by miR-17-3p was verified using a dual-luciferase reporter assay. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). TIMP3 expression was measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting. Results We demonstrated that miR-17-3p was significantly downregulated in peripheral blood exosomes after cardiac I/R injury. Further analysis indicated that exosomal miR-17-3p attenuated H2O2-induced programmed necrosis in cardiomyocytes in vitro. Moreover, TIMP3 was a target for miR-17-3p. TIMP3 affected H2O2-induced programmed necrosis in cardiomyocytes. This effect was modulated by miR-17-3p in vitro. Furthermore, exosomal miR-17-3p greatly alleviated cardiac I/R injury in vivo. Conclusions The present study demonstrated that exosomal miR-17-3p alleviated the programmed necrosis associated with cardiac I/R injury by regulating TIMP3 expression. These findings could represent a potential treatment for I/R injury.

Emerging blood exosome-based biomarkers for preclinical and clinical Alzheimer's disease: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

Blood exosomes, which are extracellular vesicles secreted by living cells into the circulating blood, are regarded as a relatively noninvasive novel tool for monitoring brain physiology and disease states. An increasing number of blood cargo-loaded exosomes are emerging as potential biomarkers for preclinical and clinical Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis and systematic review of molecular biomarkers derived from blood exosomes to comprehensively analyze their diagnostic performance in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease. We performed a literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library from their inception to August 15, 2020. The research subjects mainly included Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, and preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. We identified 34 observational studies, of which 15 were included in the quantitative analysis (Newcastle-Ottawa Scale score 5.87 points) and 19 were used in the qualitative analysis. The meta-analysis results showed that core biomarkers including Aβ1–42, P-T181-tau, P-S396-tau, and T-tau were increased in blood neuron-derived exosomes of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease patients. Molecules related to additional risk factors that are involved in neuroinflammation (C1q), metabolism disorder (P-S312-IRS-1), neurotrophic deficiency (HGF), vascular injury (VEGF-D), and autophagy-lysosomal system dysfunction (cathepsin D) were also increased. At the gene level, the differential expression of transcription-related factors (REST) and microRNAs (miR-132) also affects RNA splicing, transport, and translation. These pathological changes contribute to neural loss and synaptic dysfunction. The data confirm that the above-mentioned core molecules and additional risk-related factors in blood exosomes can serve as candidate biomarkers for preclinical and clinical Alzheimer’s disease. These findings support further development of exosome biomarkers for a clinical blood test for Alzheimer’s disease. This meta-analysis was registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (Registration No. CRD4200173498, 28/04/2020).