Neuronal-origin extracellular vesicles in the circulation as a source of biomarkers for brain diseases

Friday, April 21, 2023, 12:00 to 1:00pm

The April lecture in the NIH Director's Seminar Series will be presented by IRP Senior Investigator Dimitrios Kapogiannis, M.D.

Extracellular Vesicles enriched for neuronal origin (NEVs) can be isolated from plasma by immunoaffinity capture. NEVs provide biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, disease monitoring, and therapeutic response in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD), and, increasingly, other neurologic and psychiatric disorders. NEV biomarkers for preclinical AD have been validated in large longitudinal cohorts, such as the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Moreover, NEV biomarkers can identify clinical subgroups (e.g., Parkinson’s disease patients with cognitive impairment), facilitating the development of Precision Medicine in ADRD. NEV biomarkers can also demonstrate target engagement and identify responders in clinical trials (e.g., in a clinical trial of the anti-diabetic exenatide in Parkinson’s patients, insulin sensitivity markers in NEVs increased; in a clinical trial of the NAD+ precursor nicotinamide riboside, NAD+ in NEVs increased). Overall, NEV biomarkers have the potential to spearhead the development of Precision Medicine and facilitate therapeutic development for brain disorders.