WHITE MATTER MATTERS: New Approach to the Brain’s Hidden Half Using Circulating Oligodendrocyte-Derived Extracellular Vesicles
White matter, comprising 60% of the human brain, is formed by axonal fibers supported by oligodendrocytes. It is essential for brain communication, yet damage can accumulate silently leading to severe neurological problems. Current diagnostics detect changes only after symptoms appear. To enable earlier detection damage, we developed a blood test monitoring changes in oligodendrocyte-derived extracellular vesicles (ODEs) released from the brain into circulation. After validating the assay, we have shown that ODE levels vary from different individuals. However, ODE levels remain stable under mild head impacts in soccer heading practice (<i>n</i> = 15) and boxing/mixed martial arts (<i>n</i> = 10), whereas change markedly following neurological insults such as hemorrhagic (<i>n</i> = 7) and ischemic stroke (<i>n</i> = 14), or gynecological cancer after chemotherapy (<i>n</i> = 11). ODE measurement can potentially provide a minimally invasive window into white matter health and support early diagnosis, personalized assessment, and new insights into human brain biology.
Authors
- Cina Sasannejad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6617-567X)
- Masato Mitsuhashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3392-140X)
- Michael L. James (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8715-5210)
- Viviana Jimenez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0960-7023)
- Matthew A. Edwardson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0327-5531)
- Keisuke Kawata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4135-9311)
- Takuya Murata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8449-9053)
- Xing Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7612-602X)
- Haiping Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5328-7342)
- Vernon B. Williams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8648-2628)
- Dennis Van Epps
Institutions
- Duke University (US)
- Georgetown University (US)
- Kawasaki Medical School (JP)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute (US)
- Clinical Research Institute (US)
- Nanōmix (United States) (US)
- Indiana University Bloomington (US)
- Irvine University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cells
- Published
- 2025-11-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/cells14221771
- Primary Topic
- Extracellular vesicles in disease
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Indiana State Department of Health
- University of California, Irvine
- Division of Materials Research
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences