Differential proteomic patterns of plasma extracellular vesicles show potential to discriminate β-thalassemia subtypes

Na Li; Bowen Wu; Jifeng Wang; Yumeng Yan; Peng An; Yuezhen Li; Yuning Liu; Yanfei Hou; Xiaoqing Qing; Lili Niu; Xiang Ding; Zhensheng Xie; Mengmeng Zhang; Xiaojing Guo; Xiulan Chen; Tanxi Cai; Jianming Luo; Fudi Wang; Fuquan Yang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106048

Differential proteomic patterns of plasma extracellular vesicles show potential to discriminate β-thalassemia subtypes

iScience. 2023 Jan 25;26(2):106048. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106048. eCollection 2023 Feb 17.

Authors

Na Li^{1

2}, Bowen Wu^{1

2}, Jifeng Wang¹, Yumeng Yan^{1

2}, Peng An³, Yuezhen Li³, Yuning Liu³, Yanfei Hou³, Xiaoqing Qing^{1

2}, Lili Niu¹, Xiang Ding^{1

2}, Zhensheng Xie^{1

2}, Mengmeng Zhang¹, Xiaojing Guo^{1

2}, Xiulan Chen^{1

2}, Tanxi Cai^{1

2}, Jianming Luo⁴, Fudi Wang⁵, Fuquan Yang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Protein and Peptide Pharmaceuticals & Laboratory of Proteomics, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
³ Department of Nutrition and Health, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021 China.
⁵ The Fourth Affiliated Hospital, School of Public Health, State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China.

Abstract

The observed specificity of β-thalassemia-subtype phenotypes makes new diagnostic strategies that complement current screening methods necessary to determine each subtype and facilitate therapeutic regimens for different patients. Here, we performed quantitative proteomics of plasma-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) of β-thalassemia major (TM) patients, β-thalassemia intermedia (TI) patients, and healthy controls to explore subgroup characteristics and potential biomarkers. Plasma quantitative proteomics among the same cohorts were analyzed in parallel to compare the biomarker potential of both specimens. EV proteomics showed significantly more abnormalities in immunity and lipid metabolism in TI and TM, respectively. The differential proteomic patterns of EVs were consistent with but more striking than those of plasma. Notably, we also found EV proteins to have a superior performance for discriminating β-thalassemia subtypes. These findings allowed us to propose a diagnostic model consisting of five proteins in EVs with subtyping potential, demonstrating the ability of plasma-derived EVs for the diagnosis of β-thalassemia patients.

Keywords: Human Physiology; Omics; Physiology; Proteomics.