Size matters: Functional differences of small extracellular vesicle subpopulations in cardiac repair responses.

Cardiac progenitor cell (CPC)-derived small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) exhibit great potential to stimulate cardiac repair. However, the multifaceted nature of sEV heterogeneity presents a challenge in understanding the distinct mechanisms underlying their regenerative abilities. Here, a dual-step multimodal flowthrough and size-exclusion chromatography method was applied to isolate and separate CPC-derived sEV subpopulations to study the functional differences related to cardiac repair responses. Three distinct sEV subpopulations were identified with unique protein profiles. Functional cell assays for cardiac repair-related processes demonstrated that the middle-sized and smallest-sized sEV subpopulations exhibited the highest pro-angiogenic and anti-fibrotic activities. Proteasome activity was uniquely seen in the smallest-sized subpopulation. The largest-sized subpopulation showed no effect in any of the functional assays. This research uncovers the existence of sEV subpopulations, each characterized by a distinct composition and biological function. Enhancing our understanding of sEV heterogeneity will provide valuable insights into sEV mechanisms of action, ultimately accelerating the translation of sEV therapeutics.

Cardiac progenitor cell-derived extracellular vesicles promote angiogenesis through both associated- and co-isolated proteins.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived lipid bilayer-enclosed particles that play a role in intercellular communication. Cardiac progenitor cell (CPC)-derived EVs have been shown to protect the myocardium against ischemia-reperfusion injury via pro-angiogenic effects. However, the mechanisms underlying CPC-EV-induced angiogenesis remain elusive. Here, we discovered that the ability of CPC-EVs to induce in vitro angiogenesis and to stimulate pro-survival pathways was lost upon EV donor cell exposure to calcium ionophore. Proteomic comparison of active and non-active EV preparations together with phosphoproteomic analysis of activated endothelial cells identified the contribution of candidate protein PAPP-A and the IGF-R signaling pathway in EV-mediated cell activation, which was further validated using in vitro angiogenesis assays. Upon further purification using iodixanol gradient ultracentrifugation, EVs partly lost their activity, suggesting a co-stimulatory role of co-isolated proteins in recipient cell activation. Our increased understanding of the mechanisms of CPC-EV-mediated cell activation will pave the way to more efficient EV-based therapeutics.

Extracellular Vesicle Heterogeneity and Its Impact for Regenerative Medicine Applications.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived membrane-enclosed particles that are involved in physiologic and pathologic processes. EVs are increasingly being studied for therapeutic applications in the field of regenerative medicine. Therapeutic application of stem cell-derived EVs has shown great potential to stimulate tissue repair. However, the exact mechanisms through which they induce this effect have not been fully clarified. This may to a large extent be attributed to a lack of knowledge on EV heterogeneity. Recent studies suggest that EVs represent a heterogeneous population of vesicles with distinct functions. The heterogeneity of EVs can be attributed to differences in their biogenesis, and as such, they can be classified into distinct populations that can then be further subcategorized into various subpopulations. A better understanding of EV heterogeneity is crucial for elucidating their mechanisms of action in tissue regeneration. This review provides an overview of the latest insights on EV heterogeneity related to tissue repair, including the different characteristics that contribute to such heterogeneity and the functional differences among EV subtypes. It also sheds light on the challenges that hinder clinical translation of EVs. Additionally, innovative EV isolation techniques for studying EV heterogeneity are discussed. Improved knowledge of active EV subtypes would promote the development of tailored EV therapies and aid researchers in the translation of EV-based therapeutics to the clinic. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Within this review we discuss the differences in regenerative properties of extracellular vesicle (EV) subpopulations and implications of EV heterogeneity for development of EV-based therapeutics. We aim to provide new insights into which aspects are leading to heterogeneity in EV preparations and stress the importance of EV heterogeneity studies for clinical applications.