Investigate the proteomic profiles of calf faecal extracellular vesicles: investigating gut health and infectious disease associated changes in calves

Faeces are considered easily accessible biological specimens that can be used to monitor gastrointestinal disorders. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can be enriched from calf faeces, and these faecal extracellular vesicles (fEVs) consist of a diverse range of biological molecules, such as proteins, DNA, and RNA. The double membrane of EVs and the charged corona preserve their cargo, including proteins, from proteases, nucleases, and harsh environmental conditions. This enables the recovery of intact proteins secreted by the host and GI tract organisms, preserving their natural structure and function. While fEVs are suggested to mediate inter-species communication in the GI tract, the role of their protein cargo in GI infections remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the possibility of using fEVs as a non-invasive tool to investigate gut health and infections in claves. We considered Cryptosporidiosis as a model gut disease in calves to study the alteration in the proteomic profile of fEVs under gut infections.