Poster Presentation Australasia Extracellular Vesicles Conference 2017

Tracking of exosomes through different maternal compartments in women with different signals of parturition (#60)

Carlos Salomon 1 2 , Ramkumar Menon 3
  1. Exosome Biology Laboratory, Centre for Clinical Diagnostics (CCD), University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research (UQCCR), Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ochsner Baptist Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
  3. Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine & Perinatal Research, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, , The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas, USA

Introduction: Timing and initiation of labor are well orchestrated by signals communicated between the fetal and maternal compartments; however, how these signals are communicated is not completely understood. The aim of this study was to compare the exosomal profile between maternal and fetal compartments (i.e. Maternal plasma (MP), Amniotic fluid (AF) and umbilical Cord blood (CB)) from women with different signal of parturition.

Methods: Samples (MP, AF and CB) were collected from group 1: term not-in labor (TNL); group 2: term in labor (TL), group 3:  Premature rupture of membranes (PROM); and group 4: preterm birth (PTB). Exosome were isolated by differential buoyant density centrifugation and quantified by Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NanoSight™) using quantum dots coupled with CD63 or PLAP antibodies. The association in the exosomes concentration between different compartments was assessed using 2-way ANOVA, with the variance partitioned between compartment (i.e. MP, CB or AF) and condition (i.e. TNL, TL, PROM and PTB. Multiple regression analyses of 3 continuous variables (i.e. dependent variable: Exosomes; independent variables: compartments and condition) was also used.

Results: A significant (p<0.05) association between the concentration of total exosomes between MP and CB was identified, (slope = 0.096 ± 0.038) this association was independent of the condition. Not significant association was find between MP and AF, or AF and CB (P>0.05). The concentration of exosomes normalised by ml plasma or fluid was higher in MP compared to CB and AF and independent of the condition. Interestingly, in PTB the ratio PLAP/exosomes was significantly higher ~6.8-fold and ~63-fold in AF compared to CB and MP, respectively.

Conclusions: we have identified association of the levels of exosomes through different maternal and fetal compartments. Therefore, we suggest that signals originating from the placenta and placental membranes might indicate their physiologic status and functional contributions during pregnancy, labor and delivery.