Exosomes in Diagnosing Brain Diseases
“A characteristic of exosomes is that they are able to cross the Blood Brain Barrier allowing for selective capture of brain-derived exosomes (BDE) from the blood. This creates the opportunity to evaluate changes in brain cells through a minimally invasive blood test. Because exosomes are derived from a mother cell, the exosome membrane bears the molecular characteristics of that cell. As a result, BDE can be captured from blood samples using antibodies directed to specific surface molecules expressed on the parent brain cell. Studies have shown that in progressive diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, changes in blood BDE biomarkers can be detected years prior to and after the onset of observable clinical symptoms. Thus, even subclinical changes that occur in the brain cells of origin may be detected by BDE biomarkers before overt disease or progression in some cases.” MORE
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