In Vivo Stimulation of α- and β-Adrenoceptors in Mice Differentially Alters Small RNA Content of Circulating Extracellular Vesicles

When myocardial function is compromised as in heart failure (HF), there is activation of the sympathetic nervous system with elevated circulating catecholamine levels. These catecholamines activate cardiac and extra-cardiac adrenergic receptors (ARs). Interest in secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs) from the heart is growing and in HF, it is not known whether excessive activation of α- or β-adrenergic receptors (ARs) could induce specific changes in EV content. In this study, we have evaluated, by next generation sequencing, the small RNA content, including micro-RNAs (miRs), of circulating EVs of mice exposed to chronic selective α- or β- AR stimulation. EVs from mouse blood were purified by differential ultracentrifugation resulting in EVs with an average size of 116.6 ± 4.8 nm that by immunoblotting included protein markers of EVs. We identified the presence of miRs in blood EVs using miR-21-5p and -16-5p real-time PCR as known constituents of blood exosomes that make up a portion of EVs. We next performed next generation sequencing (NGS) of small non-coding RNAs found in blood EVs from mice following 7 days of chronic treatment with isoproterenol (ISO) or phenylephrine (PE) to stimulate α- or β-ARs, respectively. PE increased the percent of genomic repeat region reads and decreased the percent of miR reads. In miR expression analysis, PE and ISO displayed specific patterns of miR expression that suggests differential pathway regulation. The top 20 KEGG pathways predicted by differential expressed miRs show that PE and ISO share 11 of 20 pathways analyzed and reveal also key differences including three synapse relative pathways induced by ISO relative to PE treatment. Both α-and β-AR agonists can alter small RNA content of circulating blood EVs/exosomes including differential expression and loading of miRs that indicate regulation of distinct pathways. This study provides novel insight into chronic sympathetic nervous system activation in HF where excessive catecholamines may not only participate in pathological remodeling of the heart but alter other organs due to secretion of EVs with altered miR content.