PhD Scientific Days 2021

MO_I_L: Molecular Sciences I. Lectures

Investigation of the protein composition of extracellular vesicles in asthma and COPD

Text of the abstract

Introduction: Both asthma and COPD are a heterogeneous group of diseases. Currently, there are no biomarkers which can easily and reliably distinguish the two mentioned lung diseases from each. Moreover, 5-10% of patients have severe refractory asthma, they are not able to keep their symptoms under control with the products available today. This shows that new drug targets are needed. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have an important role in the intercellular communication.
Aims: Our aim is to find EV-associated proteins to identify new therapeutic pathways or differential diagnostic markers.
Method: EVs were isolated from platelet-free plasma samples (PFPs) by differential centrifugation. PFPs were centrifuged two times on 12500 g. The pellet was exposed to liquid nitrogen. A mass spectrometry measurement was carried out with 12 adult asthmatic and 6 adult control samples to analyze the protein content of EVs. MaxQuant and SPSS software was used for the evaluation of the results. Proteins with significant differences were validated by ELISA in an extended population.
Results: Ascending level of complement C9 (a,b) were measured in parallel with the severity of asthma and the comparison of moderately severe asthma vs. control showed nominally significant association (p=0.014). In addition, C9 (a,b) and talin-1 were also associated with the controllability of asthma (p=0.02 and p=0.0005). Talin-1 and complement C9 has been selected for further examination.
Conclusion: If further studies can confirm our results, complement C9 and Talin-1 could be used in differential diagnosis of asthma and COPD and in the exploration of new pathomechanisms.
Funding: The project is supported by the ÚNKP-20-3-II New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund; and OTKA (Hungarian Scientific Research Fund: K81941, K112872).

University and Doctoral School

Semmelweis University, Doctoral School of Molecular Medicine