I wanted to highlight a new data type released with AMP PD in December 2025: RNA-Seq of neuron-derived extracellular vesicles (NDEVs).
Extracellular vesicles are released from cells and carry cargo (DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids) in peripheral biofluids, are involved in cell signaling, and have been linked to numerous disease states, including neurodegeneration. For those of us in the neurodegeneration space, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) is often of interest as a biofluid as it bathes the brain, but can be invasive to collect, especially longitudinally. Additionally, CSF transcriptomic data is very sparse, especially with lower input volumes, and presents its own challenges for analysis. Other biofluids such as plasma offer an alternative and contain brain derived EVs. EVs in the plasma are a heterogeneous population with multiple cell type sources, and there has been recent interest in isolating cell type specific populations of EVs from plasma and other biofluids in order to monitor and track disease progression and/or identify potential biomarkers.
Jeppesen et al, Trends Cell Bio, 2023
For this dataset, neuron-derived EVs were isolated from plasma of 360 PDBP participants. EV RNA was then isolated and sequenced. The transcriptomic data are now available through AMP-PD, and are harmonized with existing whole blood RNA-Seq, genomics, proteomics, and clinical data in the unified dataset.
Processed EV RNA-Seq Totals
| Cohort | Baseline | Month 12 | Month 24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDBP | 354 | 355 | 353 |
