Fiona E. Karet

Background: Over the past decade, evidence has emerged of the ability of gastrointestinal (GI) helminth parasites to alter the composition of the host gut microbiome; however, the mechanism(s) underpinning such interactions remain unclear. In the current study, we (i) undertake proteomic analyses of the excretory-secretory products (ESPs), including secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs), of the ‘brown stomach worm’ Teladorsagia circumcincta, one of the major agents causing parasite gastroenteritis in temperate areas worldwide; (ii) conduct bioinformatic analyses to identify and characterise antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with putative antimicrobial activity; and (iii) assess the bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic properties of T. circumcincta EVs, and whole and EV-depleted ESPs, using bacterial growth inhibition assays. Methods: Size-exclusion chromatography was applied to the isolation of EVs from whole T. circumcincta ESPs, followed by EV characterisation via nanoparticle tracking analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Proteomic analysis of EVs and EV-depleted ESPs was conducted using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and prediction of putative AMPs was performed using available online tools. The antimicrobial activities of T. circumcincta EVs and of whole and EV-depleted ESPs against Escherichia coli were evaluated using bacterial growth inhibition assays. Results: Several molecules with putative antimicrobial activity were identified in both EVs and EV-depleted ESPs from adult T. circumcincta. Whilst exposure of E. coli to whole ESPs resulted in a significant reduction of colony-forming units over 3 h, bacterial growth was not reduced following exposure to worm EVs or EV-depleted ESPs. Conclusions: Our data points towards a bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic function of T. circumcincta ESPs, likely mediated by molecules with antimicrobial activity. Graphical

The review summarizes recent advances in technologies and devices for point-of-care and self-testing of potassium in venous blood, fingerprick blood, interstitial fluid, sweat, urine, and indirectly using ECG.

Urinary extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their RNA cargo are a novel source of biomarkers for various diseases. We aimed to identify the optimal method for isolating small (<200 nm) EVs from human urine prior to small RNA analysis. EVs from filtered healthy volunteer urine were concentrated using three methods: ultracentrifugation (UC); a precipitation-based kit (PR); and ultrafiltration (UF). EVs were further purified by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). EV preparations were analysed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Western blotting, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and an Agilent Bioanalyzer Small RNA kit. UF yielded the highest number of particles both before and after SEC. Small RNA analysis from UF-concentrated urine identified two major peaks at 10–40 nucleotides (nt) and 40–80 nt. In contrast, EV preparations obtained after UC, PR or SEC combined with any concentrating method, contained predominantly 40–80 nt sized small RNA. Protein fractions from UF+SEC contained small RNA of 10–40 nt in size (consistent with miRNAs). These data indicate that most of the microRNA-sized RNAs in filtered urine are not associated with small-sized EVs, and highlights the importance of removing non-vesicular proteins and RNA from urine EV preparations prior to small RNA analysis.

Exosomes derived from all nephron segments are present in human urine, where their functionality is incompletely understood. Most studies have focused on biomarker discovery rather than exosome function. Through sequencing we identified the miRNA repertoire of urinary exosomes from healthy volunteers; 276 mature miRNAs and 345 pre-miRNAs were identified (43%/7% of reads). Among the most abundant were members of the miR-10, miR-30 and let-7 families. Targets for the identified miRNAs were predicted using five different databases; genes encoding membrane transporters and their regulators were enriched, highlighting the possibility that these miRNAs could modulate key renal tubular functions in a paracrine manner. As proof of concept, cultured renal epithelial cells were exposed to urinary exosomes and cellular exosomal uptake was confirmed; thereafter, reduced levels of the potassium channel ROMK and kinases SGK1 and WNK1 were observed in a human collecting duct cell line, while SPAK was unaltered. In proximal tubular cells, mRNA levels of the amino acid transporter gene SLC38A2 were diminished and reflected in a significant decrement of its encoded protein SNAT2. Protein levels of the kinase SGK1 did not change. Thus we demonstrated a novel potential function for miRNA in urinary exosomes.

Anion exchanger 1 (AE1) mediates Cl⁻/HCO₃⁻ exchange in erythrocytes and kidney intercalated cells where it functions to maintain normal bodily acid-base homeostasis. AE1’s C-terminal tail (AE1C) contains multiple potential membrane targeting/retention determinants, including a predicted PDZ binding motif, which are critical for its normal membrane residency. Here we identify PDLIM5 as a direct binding partner for AE1 in human kidney, via PDLIM5’s PDZ domain and the PDZ binding motif in AE1C. Kidney AE1 (kAE1), PDLIM5 and integrin-linked kinase (ILK) form a multiprotein complex in which PDLIM5 provides a bridge between ILK and AE1C. Depletion of PDLIM5 resulted in significant reduction in kAE1 at the cell membrane, whereas over-expression of kAE1 was accompanied by increased PDLIM5 levels, underscoring the functional importance of PDLIM5 for proper kAE1 membrane residency, as a crucial linker between kAE1 and actin cytoskeleton-associated proteins in polarized cells.