Michelle M. Barnett 1,2, William R. Reay 3, Michael P. Geaghan 4, Dylan J. Kiltschewskij 1,2, Melissa J. Green 5,6, Judith Weidenhofer 1, Stephen J. Glatt 7, Murray J. Cairns 1,2*
1 School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia 2 Precision Medicine Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW 2305, Australia 5 Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7000, Australia 4 Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics, Garvan Medical Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia 5 Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia 6 Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia 7Psychiatric Genetic Epidemiology and Neurobiology Laboratory (PsychGENe lab), Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York, USA
Until recently, people with neurological disorders have not benefited from readily accessible biomarkers to diagnose and treat their illness. This may change now; a new technique, developed by the University of Newcastle in Australia, has demonstrated neuronal origin molecular changes from people living with psychiatric illness. This work was published in Science Advances as “miRNA cargo in circulating vesicles from neurons is altered in individuals with schizophrenia and associated with severe disease“.
As described in the paper, blood samples were obtained from almost 500 individuals and processed to isolate neuron-derived extracellular vesicles (NDEVs). The encapsulated content of NDEVs represent their tissue of origin, thereby providing a portal to the brain. The analysis demonstrated that molecular signatures of synaptic dysfunction have profound implications for patients; from diagnosis to treatment guidance and precision medicine applications.
This technique for non-invasively acquiring molecular signatures of neuronal health will now be leveraged to improve the lives of people with Parkinson’s disease through early detection and monitoring.