Changes in the Membrane-Associated Proteins of Exosomes Released from Human Macrophages after Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadliest infectious disease worldwide. One obstacle hindering the elimination of TB is our lack of understanding of host-pathogen interactions. Exosomes, naturally loaded with microbial molecules, are circulating markers of TB. Changes in the host protein composition of exosomes from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)-infected cells have not been described, can contribute to our understanding of the disease process, and serve as a direct source of biomarkers or as capture targets to enrich for exosomes containing microbial molecules. Here, the protein composition of exosomes from Mtb-infected and uninfected THP-1-derived macrophages was evaluated by tandem-mass-spectrometry and differences in protein abundances were assessed. Our results show that infection with Mtb leads to significant changes in the protein composition of exosomes. Specifically, 41 proteins were significantly more abundant in exosomes from Mtb-infected cells; 63% of these were predicted to be membrane associated. Thus, we used a novel biotinylation strategy to verify protein localization, and confirmed the localization of some of these proteins in the exosomal membrane. Our findings reveal another important scenario where Mtb could be influencing changes in host cells that unveil new features of the host-pathogen interaction and may also be exploited as a source of biomarkers for TB.