A meta-analysis of age-dependent changes in extracellular vesicle proteins in <i>C. elegans</i>

Abstract Extracellular vesicles (EVs) contribute to the maintenance of organism-wide proteostasis(definition) by mediating intercellular communication. Loss of proteostasis and altered intercellular communication are associated with aging and age-related diseases, suggesting key roles for EVs. However, it is unclear how the proteome of the EVs changes with age. To identify EV-associated proteins (EVAPs) and their fate with age, we curated publicly available proteome data from C. elegans model organism. Our analysis reveals that EVs carry proteins that involve protein quality control. We found that abundance of the EV proteins changes significantly with age. Many of these EV proteins also aggregate with age and overlap with Aβ driven protein aggregates. We also observe that a subset of proteins that alter their abundance in response to heat stress and pathogen infections are also associated with the EVs. Further, we identify human orthologs of C. elegans EVAPs from human brain tissues affected with Alzheimer’s disease. This meta-analysis highlights EVs proteome composition, their abundance changes, and aggregation during aging, disease and stress conditions. Overall, this study provides new insights into the dynamics of EV proteins during aging and may possibly help in identifying potential biomarkers for age-related diseases.