Extracellular Vesicle-derived MicroRNAs From Human Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Associate With Proaneurysmal Cell Signaling and Senescence Pathways

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is associated with significant postrupture mortality in aging populations. Management of AAAs is limited to watchful waiting and surgical repair, which stems from our limited understanding of AAA disease processes. Current research foci including extracellular vesicles (EVs; nano-sized packages of proteins, RNAs, and lipids that facilitate cell-cell communication) may aid in discovering novel AAA biomarkers and therapies. To characterize this regulatory cargo, we isolated EVs from human AAA tissue or control aortic punch biopsies and profiled EV content with microRNA (miRNA) sequencing to identify pathway dysregulation.