Residual matrix from different separation techniques impacts exosome biological activity

Exosomes are gaining a prominent role in research due to their intriguing biology and several therapeutic opportunities. However, their accurate purification from body fluids and detailed physicochemical characterization remain open issues. We isolated exosomes from serum of patients with Multiple Myeloma by four of the most popular purification methods and assessed the presence of residual contaminants in the preparations through an ad hoc combination of biochemical and biophysical techniques - including Western Blot, colloidal nanoplasmonics, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning helium ion microscopy (HIM). The preparations obtained by iodixanol and sucrose gradients were highly pure. To the contrary, those achieved with limited processing (serial centrifugation or one step precipitation kit) resulted contaminated by a residual matrix, embedding the exosomes. The contaminated preparations showed lower ability to induce NfkB nuclear translocation in endothelial cells with respect to the pure ones, probably because the matrix prevents the interaction and fusion of the exosomes with the cell membrane. These findings suggest that exosome preparation purity must be carefully assessed since it may interfere with exosome biological activity. Contaminants can be reliably probed only by an integrated characterization approach aimed at both the molecular and the colloidal length scales.

Suppression of BK virus replication and cytopathic effect by inhibitors of prokaryotic DNA gyrase

Nalidixic acid and oxolinic acid, two antibacterial agents known to inhibit bacterial DNA gyrase, are shown to suppress the replication, as well as the cytopathic effect, of BK virus in Vero cell cultures. The inhibition of virus replication was detectable at day 4 post infection in cultures which had been continuously exposed to drugs at concentrations as low as 0.02 to 0.04 mM of nalidixic acid and 0.2 mM of oxolinic acid. These active concentrations are inferior to plasma levels attained in the course of clinical use of the drugs for antibacterial chemotherapy. Also, under these circumstances, no cytotoxicity occurred. The inhibition of development of cytopathology and of virus-induced cell death was demonstrable in cultures treated for 12 days with the drugs. Under these circumstances of prolonged action, oxolinic acid proved to be slightly cytotoxic in that virus inhibitory doses reduced the viability of normal cells. No alterations in the topological conformation of the viral genome or accumulation of end products of viral DNA replication were detected. However, accumulation of viral DNA form I at 48 h post infection suggests that the drugs act through a mechanism involving DNA topoisomerase.

Colorimetric nanoplasmonic assay to determine purity and titrate extracellular vesicles

Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) - cell secreted vesicles that carry rich molecular information of the parental cell and constitute an important mode of intercellular communication - are becoming a primary topic in translational medicine. EVs (that comprise exosomes and microvesicles/microparticles) have a size ranging from 40 nm to 1 μm and share several physicochemical proprieties, including size, density, surface charge, and light interaction, with other nano-objects present in body fluids, such as single and aggregated proteins. This makes separation, titration, and characterization of EVs challenging and time-consuming. Here we present a cost-effective and fast colorimetric assay for probing by eye protein contaminants and determine the concentration of EV preparations, which exploits the synergy between colloidal gold nanoplasmonics, nanoparticle-protein corona, and nanoparticle-membrane interaction. The assay hits a limit of detection of protein contaminants of 5 ng/μL and has a dynamic range of EV concentration ranging from 35 fM to 35 pM, which matches the typical range of EV concentration in body fluids. This work provides the first example of the exploitation of the nanoparticle-protein corona in analytical chemistry.

Abatacept reduces levels of switched memory B cells, autoantibodies, and immunoglobulins in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE

Abatacept (ABA) is a chimeric molecule, able to block the CD28-mediated costimulatory pathway. To evaluate the hypothesis that, through this mechanism of action, ABA may down-modulate the immune responses of B lymphocytes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we investigated the serum levels of immunoglobulins (Ig), free light chains (FLC), anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA), and rheumatoid factor (RF), as well as the number of B lymphocytes differentiated into post-switch memory cells in patients treated with ABA.

METHODS

The serum levels of Ig, FLC, different ACPA, RF isotypes, and the B cell phenotype were longitudinally evaluated in 30 patients with RA treated with ABA.

RESULTS

At baseline, the proportion of total and post-switch memory B cells was lower in RA than in healthy individuals. After 6 months of ABA treatment we observed significant reductions of serum levels of IgG, IgA, and IgM, as well as FLC, with a normalization in many patients who had initially abnormal values. A significant reduction of the titers of IgG- and IgA-ACPA, as well as of IgM-, IgA-, and IgG-RF was also observed. A decrease of autoantibodies below the upper limits of normal values was found in 2 of 26 patients (8%) initially seropositive for IgG-ACPA, 1 of 14 (7%) for IgA-ACPA, 5 of 22 (23%) for IgM-RF, 7 of 22 (30%) for IgA-RF, and 5 of 16 (31%) for IgG-RF. After treatment, the proportion of circulating post-switch memory B cells was also further significantly decreased.

CONCLUSION

ABA treatment in patients with RA can reduce signs of polyclonal B cell activation, inducing a trend toward normalization of serum levels of different classes of Ig and of FLC, decreasing titers of ACPA and RF, and percentages of post-switch memory B cells.

MicroRNA‑34a‑5p expression in the plasma and in its extracellular vesicle fractions in subjects with Parkinson's disease: An exploratory study

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an important disabling age-related disorder and is the second most common neuro-degenerative disease. Currently, no established molecular biomarkers exist for the early diagnosis of PD. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), either vesicle-free or encapsulated in extracellular vesicles (EVs), have emerged as potential blood-based biomarkers also for neurodegenerative diseases. In this exploratory study, we focused on miR-34a-5p because of its well-documented involvement in neurobiology. To explore a differential profile of circulating miR-34a-5p in PD, PD patients and age-matched control subjects were enrolled. Serial ultracentrifugation steps and density gradient were used to separate EV subpopulations from plasma according to their different sedimentation properties (Large, Medium, Small EVs). Characterization of EV types was performed using western blotting and atomic force microscopy (AFM); purity from protein contaminants was checked with the colorimetric nanoplasmonic assay. Circulating miR-34a-5p levels were evaluated using qPCR in plasma and in each EV type. miR-34a-5p was significantly up-regulated in small EVs devoid of exogenous protein contaminants (pure SEVs) from PD patients and ROC analysis indicated a good diagnostic performance in discriminating patients from controls (AUC=0.74, P<0.05). Moreover, miR-34a-5p levels in pure SEVs were associated with disease duration, Hoehn and Yahr and Beck Depression Inventory scores. These results under-line the necessity to examine the miRNA content of each EV subpopulation to identify miRNA candidates with potential diagnostic value and lay the basis for future studies to validate the overexpression of circulating miR-34a-5p in PD via the use of pure SEVs.

Fourier-transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy fingerprints subpopulations of extracellular vesicles of different sizes and cellular origin

Identification of extracellular vesicle (EV) subpopulations remains an open challenge. To date, the common strategy is based on searching and probing set of molecular components and physical properties intended to be univocally characteristics of the target subpopulation. Pitfalls include the risk to opt for an unsuitable marker set - which may either not represent the subpopulation or also cover other unintended subpopulations - and the need to use different characterization techniques and equipment. This approach focused on specific markers may result inadequate to routinely deal with EV subpopulations that have an intrinsic high level of heterogeneity. In this paper, we show that Fourier-transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy can provide a collective fingerprint of EV subpopulations in one single experiment. FT-IR measurements were performed on large (LEVs, ~600 nm), medium (MEVs, ~200 nm) and small (SEVs ~60 nm) EVs enriched from two different cell lines medium: murine prostate cancer (TRAMP-C2) and skin melanoma (B16). Spectral regions between 3100-2800 cm-1 and 1880-900 cm-1, corresponding to functional groups mainly ascribed to lipid and protein contributions, were acquired and processed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). LEVs, MEVs and SEVs were separately grouped for both the considered cell lines. Moreover, subpopulations of the same size but from different sources were assigned (with different degrees of accuracy) to two different groups. These findings demonstrate that FT-IR has the potential to quickly fingerprint EV subpopulations as a whole, suggesting an appealing complement/alternative for their characterization and grading, extendable to healthy and pathological EVs and fully artificial nanovesicles.

Size distribution of extracellular vesicles by optical correlation techniques

Understanding the colloidal properties of extracellular vesicles (EVs) is key to advance fundamental knowledge in this field and to develop effective EV-based diagnostics, therapeutics and devices. Determination of size distribution and of colloidal stability of purified EVs resuspended in buffered media is a complex and challenging issue - because of the wide range of EV diameters (from 30 to 2000nm), concentrations of interest and membrane properties, and the possible presence of co-isolated contaminants with similar size and densities, such as protein aggregates and fat globules - which is still waiting to be fully addressed. We report here a fully detailed protocol for accurate and robust determination of the size distribution and stability of EV samples which leverages a dedicated combination of Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). The theoretical background, critical experimental steps and data analysis procedures are thoroughly presented and finally illustrated through the representative case study of EV formulations obtained from culture media of B16 melanoma cells, a murine tumor cell line used as a model for human skin cancers.

C-src enriched serum microvesicles are generated in malignant plasma cell dyscrasia

Plasma cell dyscrasias are immunosecretory disorders that can lead to hematological malignancies such as Multiple Myeloma (MM). MM accounts for 15% of all hematologic cancers, and those diagnosed with MM typically become severely ill and have a low life expectancy. Monoclonal immunoglobulin Free Light Chains (FLC) are present in the serum and urine of many patients with plasma cell diseases. The biological differences between monoclonal FLCs, produced under malignant or benign dyscrasias, has not yet been characterized. In the present study, we show that endothelial and heart muscle cell lines internalize kappa and lambda FLCs. After internalization, FLCs are rerouted in the extracellular space via microvesicles and exosomes that can be re-internalized in contiguous cells. Only FLCs secreted from malignant B Lymphocytes were carried in Hsp70, annexin V, and c-src positive vesicles. In both MM and AL Amyloidosis patients we observed an increase in microvesicle and exosome production. Isolated serum vesicles from MM, AL Amyloidosis and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) patients contained FLCs. Furthermore MM and AL amyloidosis vesicles were strongly positive for Hsp70, annexin V, and c-src compared to MGUS and control patients. These are the first data implying that FLCs reroute via microvesicles in the blood stream, and also suggest a potential novel mechanism of c-src activation in plasma cell dyscrasia.

Large-scale production of extracellular vesicles: Report on the "massivEVs" ISEV workshop

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) large-scale production is a crucial point for the translation of EVs from discovery to application of EV-based products. In October 2021, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), along with support by the FET-OPEN projects, "The Extracellular Vesicle Foundry" (evFOUNDRY) and "Extracellular vesicles from a natural source for tailor-made nanomaterials" (VES4US), organized a workshop entitled "massivEVs" to discuss the potential challenges for translation of EV-based products. This report gives an overview of the topics discussed during "massivEVs", the most important points raised, and the points of consensus reached after discussion among academia and industry representatives. Overall, the review of the existing EV manufacturing, upscaling challenges and directions for their resolution highlighted in the workshop painted an optimistic future for the expanding EV field.

The nanostructured secretome

The term secretome, which traditionally strictly refers to single proteins, should be expanded to also include the great variety of nanoparticles secreted by cells (secNPs) into the extracellular space, which ranges from high-density lipoproteins of a few nanometers to extracellular vesicles and fat globules of hundreds of nanometers. Widening the definition is urged by the ever-increasing understanding of the role of secNPs as regulators/mediators of key physiological and pathological processes, which also puts them in the running as breakthrough cell-free therapeutics and diagnostics. "Made by cells for cells", secNPs are envisioned as a sweeping paradigm shift in nanomedicine, promising to overcome the limitations of synthetic nanoparticles by unsurpassed circulation and targeting abilities, precision and sustainability. From a longer/wider perspective, advanced manipulation would possibly make secNPs available as building blocks for future "biogenic" nanotechnology. However, the current knowledge is fragmented and sectorial (the majority of the studies being focused on a specific biological and/or medical aspect of a given secNP class or subclass), the understanding of the nanoscale and interfacial properties is limited and the development of bioprocesses and regulatory initiatives is in the early days. We believe that new multidisciplinary competencies and synergistic efforts need to be attracted and augmented to move forward. This review will contribute to the effort by attempting for the first time to rationally gather and elaborate secNPs and their traits into a unique concise framework - from biogenesis to colloidal properties, engineering and clinical translation - disclosing the overall view and easing comparative analysis and future exploitation.

Immunoglobulin Free Light Chains and GAGs Mediate Multiple Myeloma Extracellular Vesicles Uptake and Secondary NfκB Nuclear Translocation

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy caused by a microenviromentally aided persistence of plasma cells in the bone marrow. Monoclonal plasma cells often secrete high amounts of immunoglobulin free light chains (FLCs) that could induce tissue damage. Recently, we showed that FLCs are internalized in endothelial and myocardial cell lines and secreted in extracellular vesicles (EVs). MM serum derived EVs presented phenotypic differences if compared with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) serum derived EVs suggesting their involvement in MM pathogenesis or progression. To investigate the effect of circulating EVs on endothelial and myocardial cells, we purified MM and MGUS serum derived EVs with differential ultracentrifugation protocols and tested their biological activity. We found that MM and MGUS EVs induced different proliferation and internalization rates in endothelial and myocardial cells, thus we tried to find specific targets in MM EVs docking and processing. Pre-treatment of EVs with anti-FLCs antibodies or heparin blocked the MM EVs uptake, highlighting that FLCs and glycosaminoglycans are involved. Indeed, only MM EVs exposure induced a strong nuclear factor kappa B nuclear translocation that was completely abolished after anti-FLCs antibodies and heparin pre-treatment. The protein tyrosine kinase c-src is present on MM circulating EVs and redistributes to the cell plasma membrane after MM EVs exposure. The anti-FLCs antibodies and heparin pre-treatments were able to block the intracellular re-distribution of the c-src kinase and the subsequent c-src kinase containing EVs production. Our results open new insights in EVs cellular biology and in MM therapeutic and diagnostic approaches.

Exosomes Secreted by HeLa Cells Shuttle on Their Surface the Plasma Membrane-Associated Sialidase NEU3

Sialidases are glycohydrolases that remove terminal sialic acid residues from oligosaccharides, glycolipids, and glycoproteins. The plasma membrane-associated sialidase NEU3 is involved in the fine-tuning of sialic acid-containing glycans directly on the cell surface and plays relevant roles in important biological phenomena such as cell differentiation, molecular recognition, and cancer transformation. Extracellular vesicles are membranous structures with a diameter of 0.03-1 μm released by cells and can be detected in blood, urine, and culture media. Among extracellular vesicles, exosomes play roles in intercellular communication and maintenance of several physiological and pathological conditions, including cancer, and could represent a useful diagnostic tool for personalized nanomedicine approaches. Using inducible expression of the murine form of NEU3 in HeLa cells, a study of the association of the enzyme with exosomes released in the culture media has been performed. Briefly, NEU3 is associated with highly purified exosomes and localizes on the external leaflet of these nanovesicles, as demonstrated by enzyme activity measurements, Western blot analysis, and dot blot analysis using specific protein markers. On the basis of these results, it is plausible that NEU3 activity on exosome glycans enhances the dynamic biological behavior of these small extracellular vesicles by modifying the negative charge and steric hindrance of their glycocalyx. The presence of NEU3 on the exosomal surface could represent a useful marker for the detection of these nanovesicles and a tool for improving our understanding of the biology of these important extracellular carriers in physiological and pathological conditions.

Biophysical properties of extracellular vesicles in diagnostics

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived nanoparticles, involved in cell-to-cell communication, in both normal and pathological processes. Originating by the outward budding of the plasma membrane or released by exocytosis, they are natural cargoes for lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids. EV-based diagnostics promises unique advantages compared with conventional strategies involving whole body fluid analysis, including the reduction of biofluids complexity and more specific and sensitive detection of low abundance biomacromolecules. Besides EV cargoes, new breakthrough technologies are addressing EV 'colloidal properties' - including particle content, size and membrane mechanical properties - directly experienced by researchers to be critical factors in biomarkers discovery. This article focuses on the progresses in EV biophysical properties characterization as diagnostic tools for different pathological conditions.

Augmented COlorimetric NANoplasmonic (CONAN) Method for Grading Purity and Determine Concentration of EV Microliter Volume Solutions

This protocol paper describes how to assign a purity grade and to subsequently titrate extracellular vesicle (EV) solutions of a few microliters in volume by microplate COlorimetric NANoplasmonic (CONAN) assay. The CONAN assay consists of a solution of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) into which the EV preparation is added. The solution turns blue if the EV preparation is pure, whereas it stays red if soluble exogenous single and aggregated proteins (SAPs; often referred to as protein contaminants) are present. The color change is visible by the naked eye or can be quantified by UV-Vis spectroscopy, providing an index of purity (a unique peculiarity to date). The assay specifically targets SAPs, and not the EV-related proteins, with a detection limit <50 ng/μl (an order of magnitude higher resolution than that of the Bradford protein assay). For pure solutions, the assay also allows for determining the EV number, as the color shift is linearly dependent on the AuNP/EV molar ratio. Instead, it automatically reports if the solution bears SAP contaminants, thus avoiding counting artifacts. The CONAN assay proves to be robust and reliable and displays very interesting performances in terms of cost (inexpensive reagents, run by standard microplate readers), working volumes (1–2 μl of sample required), and time (full procedure takes <1 h). The assay is applicable to all classes of natural and artificial lipid microvesicles and nanovesicles.

Polyclonal versus monoclonal immunoglobulin-free light chains quantification

Background

The clinical usefulness of the serum-free light chain assays has expanded since their first description, and further applications other than plasma cell dyscrasia are emerging. Currently, we have the ability to perform the measurements with two certified methods: the Freelite™ assay (The Binding Site Ltd, Birmingham, UK) and the new N Latex free-light chain assay (Siemens, Germany). In the present study, we investigated the impact of free light chain concentrations and structures on their quantification, performed with both tests.

Methods

A total of 524 serum samples from 497 patients from our routine laboratory were analysed with the Freelite™ and the N Latex free light chain assay. The results were compared in two subgroups: with or without monoclonal component. Twenty-four samples were subsequently investigated for the presence of dimeric and monomeric free light chain with sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and densitometric quantification.

Results

Methods comparison showed that the Pearson rank correlation coefficients were 0.90 for polyclonal k and 0.91 for polyclonal λ free light chain. Conversely for monoclonal immunoglobulins, the Pearson rank correlation coefficient was lower with 0.82 for kM >500 mg/L and 0.56 for λM >500 mg/L. Furthermore, densitometric quantification of the involved monoclonal free light chains showed that both assays do not reflect the Coomassie-stained protein mass.

Conclusion

Samples containing high amounts of a single pathologic free light chain may not be considered like a sample containing a sum of different polyclonal free light chains. Indeed, free light chain dimerization leads to different scatter efficiency of macromolecular complexes.

Collapse of the Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Compartment in Advanced Cutaneous Melanomas by Components of the Tumor Cell Secretome

Melanoma is an immunogenic neoplasm infiltrated by T cells, although these adaptive T cells usually fail to eradicate the tumor. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) are potent regulators of the adaptive immune response and can eliminate melanoma cells via TLR-mediated effector functions. The PDC compartment is maintained by progressively restricted bone marrow progenitors. Terminally differentiated PDCs exit the bone marrow into the circulation, then home to lymph nodes and inflamed peripheral tissues. Infiltration by PDCs is documented in various cancers. However, their role within the melanoma immune contexture is not completely known. We found that in locoregional primary cutaneous melanoma (PCM), PDC infiltration was heterogeneous, occurred early, and was recurrently localized at the invasive margin, the site where PDCs interact with CD8+ T cells. A reduced PDC density was coupled with an increased Breslow thickness and somatic mutations at the NRAS p.Q61 codon. Compared with what was seen in PCM, high numbers of PDCs were found in regional lymph nodes, as also identified by in silico analysis. In contrast, in metastatic melanoma patients, PDCs were mostly absent in the tumor tissues and were significantly reduced in the circulation, particularly in the advanced M1c group. Exposure of circulating PDCs to melanoma cell supernatant (SN-mel) depleted of extracellular vesicles resulted in significant PDC death. SN-mel exposure also resulted in a defect of PDC differentiation from CD34+ progenitors. These findings indicate that soluble components released by melanoma cells support the collapse of the PDC compartment, with clinical implications for refining TLR agonist-based trials.

Comparison of Hevylite™ IgA and IgG assay with conventional techniques for the diagnosis and follow-up of plasma cell dyscrasia

Background

Heavy/light chain assay allows the characterization and quantification of immunoglobulin light chains bound to heavy chains for each Ig’k and Ig’λ immunoglobulin class, discriminating between the involved/uninvolved isotypes in plasma cell dyscrasia. The Ig’k/Ig’λ ratio (heavy/light chain ratio) enables to monitor the trend of monoclonal component during therapy and disease evolution.

Objective

In this study, we evaluate the impact of the heavy/light chain assay in monitoring multiple myeloma patients in comparison with conventional techniques.

Methods

Serum samples of 28 patients with IgG or IgA monoclonal component were collected for a mean of 109 days and analyzed. The heavy/light chain assay was compared with classical immunoglobulin quantification (Ig’Tot), serum immunofixation electrophoresis, serum protein electrophoresis, and serum-free light chains quantification. Serum samples from 30 healthy patients were used as control (polyclonal).

Results

Heavy/light chain ratio and serum immunofixation electrophoresis were comparable in 86% of the cases, and free light chain ratio and heavy/light chain ratio in 71.8%. Heavy/light chain assay and Ig’Tot measurements showed a concentration-dependent agreement in monoclonal patients. The heavy/light chain assay was able to quantify the monoclonal component migrating in SPE β region: this occurred in 10% of our IgG and 50% of our IgA patients.

Conclusions

The concordance scores indicate that heavy/light chain and Ig’Tot assays show differences at high monoclonal component values. The heavy/light chain ratio, serum immunofixation electrophoresis, and free light chain ratio showed partial concordance. Our study confirmed that, in the context of heavy/light chain assay, heavy/light chain Ig’k and Ig’λ absolute values and heavy/light chain ratio are both important tools to monitor the presence of monoclonal component that are difficult to be identified in SPE.

Analysis of a nanoparticle‑enriched fraction of plasma reveals miRNA candidates for Down syndrome pathogenesis

Down syndrome (DS) is caused by the presence of part or all of a third copy of chromosome 21. DS is associated with several phenotypes, including intellectual disability, congenital heart disease, childhood leukemia and immune defects. Specific microRNAs (miRNAs/miR) have been described to be associated with DS, although none of them so far have been unequivocally linked to the pathology. The present study focuses to the best of our knowledge for the first time on the miRNAs contained in nanosized RNA carriers circulating in the blood. Fractions enriched in nanosized RNA-carriers were separated from the plasma of young participants with DS and their non-trisomic siblings and miRNAs were extracted. A microarray-based analysis on a small cohort of samples led to the identification of the three most abundant miRNAs, namely miR-16-5p, miR-99b-5p and miR-144-3p. These miRNAs were then profiled for 15 pairs of DS and non-trisomic sibling couples by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results identified a clear differential expression trend of these miRNAs in DS with respect to their non-trisomic siblings and gene ontology analysis pointed to their potential role in a number of typical DS features, including 'nervous system development', 'neuronal cell body' and certain forms of 'leukemia'. Finally, these expression levels were associated with certain typical quantitative and qualitative clinical features of DS. These results contribute to the efforts in defining the DS-associated pathogenic mechanisms and emphasize the importance of properly stratifying the miRNA fluid vehicles in order to probe biomolecules that are otherwise hidden and/or not accessible to (standard) analysis.

Surface functionalization of extracellular vesicle nanoparticles with antibodies: a first study on the protein corona "variable"

To be profitably exploited in medicine, nanosized systems must be endowed with biocompatibility, targeting capability, the ability to evade the immune system, and resistance to clearance. Currently, biogenic nanoparticles, such as extracellular vesicles (EVs), are intensively investigated as the platform that naturally recapitulates these highly needed characteristics. EV native targeting properties and pharmacokinetics can be further augmented by decorating the EV surface with specific target ligands as antibodies. However, to date, studies dealing with the functionalization of the EV surface with proteins have never considered the protein corona "variable", namely the fact that extrinsic proteins may spontaneously adsorb on the EV surface, contributing to determine the surface, and in turn the biological identity of the EV. In this work, we explore and compare the two edge cases of EVs modified with the antibody Cetuximab (CTX) by chemisorption of CTX (through covalent binding via biorthogonal click-chemistry) and by formation of a physisorbed CTX corona. The results indicate that (i) no differences exist between the two formulations in terms of binding affinity imparted by molecular recognition of CTX versus its natural binding partner (epidermal growth factor receptor, EGFR), but (ii) significant differences emerge at the cellular level, where CTX-EVs prepared by click chemistry display superior binding and uptake toward target cells, very likely due to the higher robustness of the CTX anchorage.

Comparison of separation methods for immunomodulatory extracellular vesicles from helminths

Helminths survive within their host by secreting immunomodulatory compounds, which hold therapeutic potential for inflammatory conditions. Helminth-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) are one such component proposed to possess immunomodulatory activities. Due to the recent discovery of helminth EVs, standardised protocols for EV separation are lacking. Excretory/secretory products of the porcine helminth, Ascaris suum, were used to compare three EV separation methods: Size exclusion chromatography (SEC), ultracentrifugation (UC) and a combination of the two. Their performance was evaluated by EV yield, sample purity and the ability of EVs to suppress lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in vitro. We found that all three separation methods successfully separated helminth EVs with a similar EV yield. Functional studies showed that EVs from all three methods reduced LPS-induced levels of tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α) in a dose-dependent manner. Overall, the three separation methods showed similar performance, however, the combination of UC+SEC presented with slightly higher purity than either method alone.

A plasmon-based nanoruler to probe the mechanical properties of synthetic and biogenic nanosized lipid vesicles

Nanosized lipid vesicles are ubiquitous in living systems (e.g. cellular compartments or extracellular vesicles, EVs) and in formulations for nanomedicine (e.g. liposomes for RNA vaccine formulations). The mechanical properties of such vesicles are crucial in several physicochemical and biological processes, ranging from cellular uptake to stability in aerosols. However, their accurate determination remains challenging and requires sophisticated instruments and data analysis. Here we report the first evidence that the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of citrated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) adsorbed on synthetic vesicles is finely sensitive to the vesicles' mechanical properties. We then leverage this finding to show that the SPR tracking provides quantitative access to the stiffness of vesicles of synthetic and natural origin, such as EVs. The demonstration of this plasmon-based "stiffness nanoruler" paves the way for developing a facile, cost-effective and high-throughput method to assay the mechanical properties of dispersions of vesicles of nanometric size and unknown composition at a collective level.

Cigarette Smoke Exposure, Pediatric Lung Disease, and COVID-19

The detrimental effects of tobacco exposure on children's health are well known. Nonetheless, the prevalence of secondhand or direct cigarette smoke exposure (CSE) in the pediatric population has not significantly decreased over time. On the contrary, the rapid incline in use of e-cigarettes among adolescents has evoked public health concerns since increasing cases of vaping-induced acute lung injury have highlighted the potential harm of these new "smoking" devices. Two pediatric populations are especially vulnerable to the detrimental effects of cigarette smoke. The first group is former premature infants whose risk is elevated both due to their prematurity as well as other risk factors such as oxygen and mechanical ventilation to which they are disproportionately exposed. The second group is children and adolescents with chronic respiratory diseases, in particular asthma and other wheezing disorders. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a spectrum of diseases caused by infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has spread worldwide over the last year. Here, respiratory symptoms ranging from mild to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are at the forefront of COVID-19 cases among adults, and cigarette smoking is associated with worse outcomes in this population, and cigarette smoking is associated with worse outcomes in this population. Interestingly, SARS-CoV-2 infection affects children differently in regard to infection susceptibility, disease manifestations, and complications. Although children carry and transmit the virus, the likelihood of symptomatic infection is low, and the rates of hospitalization and death are even lower when compared to the adult population. However, multisystem inflammatory syndrome is recognized as a serious consequence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pediatric population. In addition, recent data demonstrate specific clinical patterns in children infected with SARS-CoV-2 who develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome vs. severe COVID-19. In this review, we highlight the pulmonary effects of CSE in vulnerable pediatric populations in the context of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.