Assessing extracellular vesicle proteins as predictive biomarkers for developing type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a disease characterized by the body's inability to produce insulin and consequently, to control blood glucose levels. Despite the initial trigger being unclear, the disease development process involves an autoimmune response to the islets of Langerhans, resulting in the death of insulin-producing β cells. There is no cure for the disease, and treatment relies on exogenous administration of insulin. Therefore, preventive therapies that block the autoimmune process are attractive for treating T1D. In fact, anti-CD3 antibody (Teplizumab) delays the onset of T1D by 2 years by targeting T cells. Predictive biomarkers for developing T1D are needed to aid the development and implementation of new therapies and to identify the initial trigger and mechanisms of the islet autoimmune process. In this paper, we assess the potential of plasma extracellular vesicle (EV) proteomics analysis for identifying predictive biomarkers of T1D. Our results show excellent potential of the approach, opening opportunities to perform broader studies to identify biomarkers for developing T1D.