Abstract

Biomarker Analysis of Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) Derived from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Emilia Scharrig, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Thomas Jefferson University

IBD is a hyperinflammatory disorder that manifests with a severely compromised intestine, combined with dysregulation of the immune system. Although several factors have been associated with the disease, the pathophysiological mechanism is still not well-understood. Recent research suggests that EVs may be involved in the progression of IBD inflammation; still little is known about the contribution of immune cells-derived EVs to this pathology. To find out potential biomarkers of IBD we evaluated the protein composition of PBMCs-derived EVs from IBD patients and healthy controls. Most of the protein content (over 90%) of PBMC-derived EVs was shared among all the analyzed samples. A unique set of proteins present in IBD-EVs that has the potential to be used as biomarkers of the disease was identified. The specific content of the EVs and their variations are telling the story of a disease.