2026-06-22 マウントサイナイ医療システム（MSHS）
Several brain-derived extracellular vesicles and particles (EVPs) cross the blood brain barrier and reach circulation. Mount Sinai researchers have identified brain-specific RNA biomarkers in blood, paving a way for early and easier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Photo courtesy of Nature Communications.
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2026/mount-sinai-researchers-identify-rna-biomarkers-that-could-offer-a-simple-blood-test-for-earlier-alzheimers-diagnosis
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-74541-8
SECmeresは、アルツハイマー病の潜在的な血液RNAバイオマーカーとして、細胞外小胞よりも優れた性能を示す SECmeres outperform extracellular vesicles as potential blood RNA biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease
Edgar Gonzalez-Kozlova,Swapnil Tichkule,Yohei Nose,Tzu-Yi Chen,Eduard Reznik,Juliet V. Santiago,Anish Korrapati,Taliah Soleymani,Roman Kosoy,Igor Figueiredo,Donghoon Lee,Gabriel E. Hoffman,Natasha Kyprianou,Ronald E. Gordon,Carlos Cordon-Cardo,Srikant Rangaraju,Nicholas T. Seyfried,Vahram Haroutunian,John F. Fullard,Panos Roussos & Navneet Dogra
Nature Communications Published:22 June 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74541-8
Abstract
Cells release heterogeneous extracellular vesicles and particles (EVPs) into circulation, carrying RNA and proteins that reflect their origin. Recently, brain-derived EVs have gained significant attention as non-invasive biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, we identified sub-50nm extracellular nanoparticles in human brain and blood that lack the hallmarks of small EVs, exosomes, exomeres, and supermeres but are enriched for brain-specific markers, hereafter termed small EPs or ‘SECmeres’. We discovered that RNAs associated with SECmeres discriminated AD cases from controls with higher significance than small EVs, large EVs showed no differences. Discriminating RNAs were enriched in small EVs (Synaptotagmin, Alpha-synuclein, MAPT) or SECmeres (L1CAM, Syntaxin, Neurogranin), indicating distinct brain-derived signatures. Single-cell RNAseq deconvolution shows small EVs contain RNAs from diverse brain cells, whereas SECmeres enrich brain endothelial transcripts, lining cerebral blood vessels and forming the blood–brain barrier (BBB). These findings challenge the prevailing view that small EVs are the primary carriers of biomarkers. Collectively, our study shows that blood EVPs carry brain-specific information for liquid biopsy, pending validation in larger blinded clinical trials.
