Resistance Exercise Differentially Alters Extracellular Vesicle Size and Subpopulation Characteristics in Healthy Men and Women: An Observational Cohort Study

Extracellular Vesicles
/References

Conkright, William R., Meaghan E. Beckner, Adam J. Sterczala, Qi Mi, Mita Lovalekar, Amrita Sahu, Kellen T. Krajewski, et al. 2022. “Resistance Exercise Differentially Alters Extracellular Vesicle Size and Subpopulation Characteristics in Healthy Men and Women: An Observational Cohort Study.” Physiological Genomics, July. https://doi.org/10.1152/physiolgenomics.00171.2021.

Extracellular vesicles (EV) are established mediators of adaptation to exercise. Currently, there are no published data comparing changes in EVs between men and women after resistance exercise. PURPOSE: We tested the hypothesis that EV profiles would demonstrate a sex-specific signature following resistance exercise. METHODS: Ten men and 10 women completed an acute heavy resistance exercise test for back squats using 75% of their one-repetition maximum. Blood was drawn before and immediately after exercise. EVs were isolated from plasma using size exclusion chromatography and stained with antibodies associated with exosomes (CD63), microvesicles (VAMP3), apoptotic bodies (THSD1), and a marker for skeletal muscle EVs (SGCA). RESULTS: CD63+ EV concentration and proportion of total EVs increased 23% (p=0.006) and 113% (p=0.005) in both sexes. EV mean size declined in men (p=0.020), but not women, suggesting a relative increase in small EVs in men. VAMP3+ EV concentration and proportion of total EVs increased by 93% (p=0.025) and 61% (p=0.030) in men and women, respectively. SGCA+ EV concentration was 69% higher in women compared to men independent of time (p=0.007). Differences were also observed for CD63, VAMP3, and SGCA median fluorescence intensity, suggesting altered surface protein density according to sex and time. There were no significant effects of time or sex on THSD1+ EVs or fluorescence intensity. CONCLUSION: EV profiles, particularly among exosome-associated and muscle-derived EVs, exhibit sex-specific differences in response to resistance exercise which should be further studied to understand their relationship to training adaptations.

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Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as promising therapeutics with broad clinical applications as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic drug delivery systems. Yet, these biopharmaceuticals pose a challenge in terms of manufacturing due to their complexity and heterogeneity. Despite advancements in the field, current purification technologies lack scalability and/or selectivity. Affinity chromatography (AC) − coupling unmatched specificity and scalability − could be used to simplify purification processing and generate clinical-grade EVs with higher titers and purity. In the present work, we report the implementation of an immuno-AC resin to capture and purify EVs directly from clarified cellular feedstocks. Firstly, to guide and support marker selection, vesicle phenotype characterization was conducted using single particle interferometric reflectance image sensing (SP-IRIS) coupled with immunofluorescence. CD81 was the marker which shown to be more present and more likely to have the other markers (CD63 and CD9). Thus, anti-CD81 VHH ligand was generated and evaluated towards recombinant CD81 protein and CD81 bearing EV particles using surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Different chromatographic studies with Anti-CD81 ligand immobilized onto agarose beads resin were conducted to optimize the process parameters (residence time, dynamic binding capacity and impurity clearance). At residence time of 2 min, on average 40 % of pure triple tetraspanin-positive EV fraction was recovered. The enrichment in EV particles herein obtained, based on scale-up calculations, it would be possible to produce 1 × 1013 EVs from a 1L cell culture, while meeting impurity requirements in a single-step purification process (impurity removal over 2 log reduction value). A single-step purification process is possible, enabling the successful isolation of homogeneous EVs population, counting with a final HCP titer of 60 ng/mL and 9 ng/mL of dsDNA impurities. EV’s morphological integrity and internalization ability were also demonstrated, showcasing elution’s efficiency under mild conditions. Overall, this work contributes to the development of a novel, highly specific, AC technology using a camelid-derived affinity ligand which, bridging the scalability requirements demanded of large-scale production, could potentiate the advent of EV-based therapies.

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