Circulating small extracellular vesicles as blood-based biomarkers of muscle health in aging nonhuman primates

Age-associated loss of muscle mass and function and subsequent mobility decline define poor health outcomes, reduced quality of life, and mortality risk. The rate and extent of aging-related muscle loss varies across older adults. It is challenging to understand the molecular pathogenesis of mobility decline, as anthropometric and imaging techniques, primarily used in muscle function assessment, do not offer much molecular information. Small extracellular vesicles (sEV) are lipid membrane-bound, nano-sized (≤ 200 nm) vesicles which carry a wide array of biomolecules as their cargo. sEV contain cell/tissue-specific signatures on their surface and can be isolated from biofluids. These properties pose sEV as a minimally invasive means to monitor the functional and biological health of difficult-to-access tissues, establishing them as a promising liquid biopsy tool. Here, we first isolated skeletal muscle-derived sEV (sEV^SKM) from the serum of vervet monkeys (16 to < 25 years old) using alpha sarcoglycan (SGCA) as a muscle-specific sEV surface marker. sEV^SKM were extensively characterized for size, concentration, purity, and specificity. Further, sEV^SKM isolated from young (11-15 years) and old (25-29 years) monkeys' serum were characterized for oxidized proteins by mass spectrometry and miRNAs by small-RNAseq. Notably, the analysis of oxidized proteins indicated perturbation of metabolic pathways, actin cytoskeleton, muscle cytoskeleton regulation, and HIF-1 signaling in older monkeys. Furthermore, small-RNAseq analysis identified differential expression of several miRNAs regulating metabolic pathways, inflammation, and stress signaling. Altogether, these results suggest that it is feasible to isolate sEV^SKM and use them to identify molecular biomarkers that reflect the physiological state of muscle tissue.