Plasma Extracellular Vesicle miRNA Profiles Distinguish Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations and Disease Severity

Urinary Proteome and Exosome Analysis Protocol for the Discovery of Respiratory Diseases Biomarkers

This study aims to develop a protocol for respiratory disease-associated biomarker discovery by combining urine proteome studies with urinary exosome components analysis (i.e., miRNAs). To achieve this, urine was DTT treated to decrease uromodulin, then concentrated and ultracentrifuged. Proteomic analyses of exosome-free urine were performed using LC-MS/MS. Simultaneously, miRNA expression from urine exosomes was measured using either RTqPCR (pre-amplification) or nCounter Nanostring (non-amplication) analyses. We detected 548 different proteins in exosome-free urine samples (N = 5) with high confidence (FDR < 1%), many of them being expressed in different non-renal tissues. Specifically, lung-related proteins were overrepresented (Fold enrichment = 1.31; FDR = 0.0335) compared to whole human proteome, and 10-15% were already described as protein biomarkers for several pulmonary diseases. Urine proteins identified belong to several functional categories important in respiratory pathology. We could confirm the expression of miRNAs previously connected to respiratory diseases (i.e., miR-16-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-146a-5p, and miR-215-5p) in urine exosomes by RTqPCR. Finally, we detected 333 miRNAs using Nanostring, 15 of them up-regulated in T2high asthma (N = 4) compared to T2low asthma (N = 4) and healthy subjects (N = 4). Therefore, this protocol combining the urinary proteome (exosome free) with the study of urinary exosome components (i.e., miRNAs) holds great potential for molecular biomarker discovery of non-renal and particularly respiratory pathologies.

Extracellular Vesicle microRNA: A Promising Biomarker and Therapeutic Target for Respiratory Diseases

Respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, lung cancer, and coronavirus pneumonia, present a major global health challenge. Current diagnostic and therapeutic options for these diseases are limited, necessitating the urgent development of novel biomarkers and therapeutic strategies. In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs) within extracellular vesicles (EVs) have received considerable attention due to their crucial role in intercellular communication and disease progression. EVs are membrane-bound structures released by cells into the extracellular environment, encapsulating a variety of biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, lipids, and proteins. Specifically, miRNAs within EVs, known as EV-miRNAs, facilitate intercellular communication by regulating gene expression. The expression levels of these miRNAs can reflect distinct disease states and significantly influence immune cell function, chronic airway inflammation, airway remodeling, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and other pathological processes. Consequently, EV-miRNAs have a profound impact on the onset, progression, and therapeutic responses of respiratory diseases, with great potential for disease management. Synthesizing the current understanding of EV-miRNAs in respiratory diseases such as COPD, asthma, lung cancer, and novel coronavirus pneumonia, this review aims to explore the potential of EV-miRNAs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets and examine their prospects in the diagnosis and treatment of these respiratory diseases.

A new frontier in precision medicine: Exploring the role of extracellular vesicles in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory airway disease characterized by progressive respiratory difficulties. It has a high incidence and disability rate worldwide. However, currently there is still a lack of highly effective treatment methods for COPD, only symptom relief is possible. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore new treatment options. Almost all cells can secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs), which participate in many physiological activities by transporting cargoes and are associated with the pathogenesis of various diseases. Recently, many scholars have extensively studied the relationship between COPD and EVs, which has strongly demonstrated the significant impact of EVs from different sources on the occurrence and development of COPD. Therefore, EVs are a good starting point and new opportunity for the diagnosis and treatment of COPD. In this review, we mainly describe the current mechanisms of EVs in the pathogenesis of COPD, also the relationship between diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. At the same time, we also introduce some new methods for COPD therapy based on EVs. It is hoped that this article can provide new ideas for future research and contribute to the development of precision medicine.

Proteomic Research of Extracellular Vesicles in Clinical Biofluid

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), the lipid bilayer membranous structures of particles, are produced and released from almost all cells, including eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The versatility of EVs has been investigated in various pathologies, including development, coagulation, inflammation, immune response modulation, and cell-cell communication. Proteomics technologies have revolutionized EV studies by enabling high-throughput analysis of their biomolecules to deliver comprehensive identification and quantification with rich structural information (PTMs, proteoforms). Extensive research has highlighted variations in EV cargo depending on vesicle size, origin, disease, and other features. This fact has sparked activities to use EVs for diagnosis and treatment to ultimately achieve clinical translation with recent endeavors summarized and critically reviewed in this publication. Notably, successful application and translation require a constant improvement of methods for sample preparation and analysis and their standardization, both of which are areas of active research. This review summarizes the characteristics, isolation, and identification approaches for EVs and the recent advances in EVs for clinical biofluid analysis to gain novel knowledge by employing proteomics. In addition, the current and predicted future challenges and technical barriers are also reviewed and discussed.