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Enrichment of extracellular vesicles using Mag-Net for the analysis of the plasma proteome
Wu CC, Tsantilas KA, Park J, Plubell D, Sanders JA, Naicker P, Govender I, Buthelezi S et al.. Nature communications, 2025-07-01
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) in plasma are composed of exosomes, microvesicles, and apoptotic bodies. We report a plasma EV enrichment strategy using magnetic beads called Mag-Net. Proteomic interrogation of this plasma EV fraction enables the detection of proteins that are beyond the dynamic range of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry of unfractionated plasma. Mag-Net is robust, reproducible, inexpensive, and requires 37,000 peptides from >4,000 proteins. Using Mag-Net on a pilot cohort of patients with neurodegenerative disease and healthy controls, we find 204 proteins that differentiate (q-value < 0.05) patients with Alzheimer's disease dementia (ADD) from those without ADD. There are also 310 proteins that differ between individuals with Parkinson's disease and without. Using machine learning we distinguish between individuals with ADD and not ADD with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) = 0.98 ± 0.06.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Wu, C. C., Tsantilas, K. A., Park, J., Plubell, D., Sanders, J. A., Naicker, P., et al. (2025). Enrichment of extracellular vesicles using Mag-Net for the analysis of the plasma proteome. Nature communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60595-7
Vancouver
Wu CC, Tsantilas KA, Park J, Plubell D, Sanders JA, Naicker P, et al. Enrichment of extracellular vesicles using Mag-Net for the analysis of the plasma proteome. Nature communications. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-60595-7. PMID: 40595564.
BibTeX
@article{wu2025-40595564,
author = {Wu, C. C. and Tsantilas, K. A. and Park, J. and Plubell, D. and Sanders, J. A. and Naicker, P. and Govender, I. and Buthelezi, S. and others},
title = {{Enrichment of extracellular vesicles using Mag-Net for the analysis of the plasma proteome}},
journal = {Nature communications},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-60595-7},
pmid = {40595564},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60595-7}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Proteomic interrogation of this plasma EV fraction enables the detection of proteins that are beyond the dynamic range of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry of unfractionated plasma.
- Mag-Net is robust, reproducible, inexpensive, and requires 37,000 peptides from >4,000 proteins.
- Using Mag-Net on a pilot cohort of patients with neurodegenerative disease and healthy controls, we find 204 proteins that differentiate (q-value < 0.05) patients with Alzheimer's disease dementia (ADD) from those without ADD.
- There are also 310 proteins that differ between individuals with Parkinson's disease and without.
- Using machine learning we distinguish between individuals with ADD and not ADD with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) = 0.98 ± 0.06.
Why it matters
A magnetic bead method called Mag-Net enriched extracellular vesicles from plasma and found 204 proteins that differed between people with Alzheimer's disease dementia and those without, distinguishing the groups with an area under the curve of 0.98 in a pilot cohort. This is an early, small study of a detection method and does not treat, cure or prevent Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 56/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Nature communications) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Nature Communications: journal h-index 747 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 60 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 20.0 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 15.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 60 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Michael J. MacCoss: h-index 94 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | University of Washington: institution h-index 3,540 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40595564) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 56 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60595-7
- PubMed: 40595564
- Original source →
- Free full text: Nature Communications →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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