Proteomic and Metabolomic Profiles of T Cell-Derived Exosomes Isolated from Human Plasma

• Published in: Cells (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 12; p. 1965
• Main Authors: Zebrowska, Aneta, Jelonek, Karol, Mondal, Sujan, Gawin, Marta, Mrowiec, Katarzyna, Widłak, Piotr, Whiteside, Theresa, Pietrowska, Monika
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 18.06.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Biopsy; CD3 antigen; CD3 Complex - metabolism; Chromatography; Exosomes; Exosomes - metabolism; Humans; immune capture; Immunoregulation; Life sciences; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Mass spectrometry; Metabolites; Metabolomics; Peptides; Plasma; Proteins; Proteins - metabolism; Proteomics; Scientific imaging; T cell receptors; T lymphocytes; Vesicles; United States > US; Austria; T lymphocytes; proteomics; metabolomics; exosomes; immune capture; CD3 antigen; small extracellular vesicles
• ISSN: 2073-4409; 2073-4409
• DOI: 10.3390/cells11121965

Exosomes that are released by T cells are key messengers involved in immune regulation. However, the molecular profiling of these vesicles, which is necessary for understanding their functions, requires their isolation from a very heterogeneous mixture of extracellular vesicles that are present in the human plasma. It has been shown that exosomes that are produced by T cells could be isolated from plasma by immune capture using antibodies that target the CD3 antigen, which is a key component of the TCR complex that is present in all T lymphocytes. Here, we demonstrate that CD3(+) exosomes that are isolated from plasma can be used for high-throughput molecular profiling using proteomics and metabolomics tools. This profiling allowed for the identification of proteins and metabolites that differentiated the CD3(+) from the CD3(-) exosome fractions that were present in the plasma of healthy donors. Importantly, the proteins and metabolites that accumulated in the CD3(+) vesicles reflected the known molecular features of T lymphocytes. Hence, CD3(+) exosomes that are isolated from human plasma by immune capture could serve as a "T cell biopsy".