North Texas Eye Research Institute, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, 76107, USA; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, 76107, USA.
NanoView Biosciences, Boston, MA, USA.
Exp Eye Res. 2022 Nov;224:109242. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2022.109242. Epub 2022 Sep 6.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-bound vesicles that originate from the endosomal system or budded off from the plasma membrane. EVs are involved in cell-cell communication via transporting DNA, RNA, and proteins from one cell to another. Tear EVs (tEVs) have been reported in dry eye, Sjӧgren's Syndrome, and primary open-angle glaucoma. In this study, we sought to investigate the presence of tEVs in relation to keratoconus (KC). Tears were passively collected from the lateral meniscus from 10 healthy (5 males and 5 females) and 9 KC (4 males and 5 females) subjects. Tear samples were processed and analyzed using the ExoView™ R100. Statistical analysis was performed using a Mann-Whitney U non-parametric Student's t-test. All tEVs, in both Healthy and KC subjects, showed a CD9 dominant tEV cohort independent of sex. A significant decrease in CD63+/CD9+ and CD63+/CD81+/CD9+ was found in the male KC tEVs (p < 0.05), but not in females compared to their healthy counterparts. Neither Healthy nor KC tEVs showed differences in the total number of tEVs, however significant differences were identified between the sexes (p < 0.05), with males having a higher number of tEVs. tEVs diameters ranged from 50 to 200 nm, in both Healthy and KC cohorts, with the majority in the 50-80 nm range suggesting exosome-dominant cohorts. To our knowledge, this is the first time, to date, that tEVs have been isolated and characterized in KCs. While further studies are warranted, the tEVs differences between KC and Healthy subjects suggest a potential role for tEVs in KC pathogenesis.
细胞外囊泡 (EVs) 是源自内体系统或从质膜出芽的脂质结合囊泡。EVs 通过将 DNA、RNA 和蛋白质从一个细胞转运到另一个细胞来参与细胞间通讯。已经在干眼症、干燥综合征和原发性开角型青光眼报告了泪液 EVs (tEVs)。在这项研究中，我们试图研究 tEVs 在圆锥角膜 (KC) 中的存在情况。从 10 名健康（5 名男性和 5 名女性）和 9 名 KC（4 名男性和 5 名女性）受试者的外侧半月板被动收集泪液。使用 ExoView™ R100 处理和分析泪液样本。使用 Mann-Whitney U 非参数学生 t 检验进行统计分析。在健康和 KC 受试者中，所有 tEVs 均显示 CD9 主导的 tEV 群体，与性别无关。在男性 KC tEVs 中，发现 CD63+/CD9+和 CD63+/CD81+/CD9+显著减少（p<0.05），但女性与健康对照组相比没有差异。与健康对照组相比，无论是健康组还是 KC 组的 tEVs 总数均无差异，但在性别之间存在显著差异（p<0.05），男性的 tEVs 数量较多。tEVs 直径在健康和 KC 队列中均为 50 至 200nm，大多数在 50-80nm 范围内，表明外体为主的群体。据我们所知，这是迄今为止首次在 KC 中分离和表征 tEVs。虽然还需要进一步的研究，但 KC 和健康受试者之间 tEVs 的差异表明 tEVs 在 KC 发病机制中可能发挥作用。
