Oxidative stress-induced changes in the transcriptomic profile of extracellular vesicles

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play dual roles in cellular homeostasis, functioning both to remove unwanted intracellular molecules, and to enable transport between cells for communication purposes. EVs contain a broad range of cargoes, including multiple biotypes of RNA, which can vary depending on the cell status. Given that EV-mediated transfer of RNA has been shown to affect numerous cellular responses in both physiological and pathological scenarios, addressing the stress-mediated changes in EV RNA cargo is of fundamental biological importance. In this study, we carried out comparative transcriptomic analysis of Drosophila EVs and cells, demonstrating that the RNA profile of EVs is distinct from cells and shows dose-dependent changes in response to oxidative stress. We identified a high abundance of snoRNAs in EVs, alongside an enrichment of intronic and untranslated regions (UTRs) of mRNAs under stress. We also observed an increase in the relative abundance of either aberrant or modified mRNAs under stress. These findings suggest that EVs may function both for the elimination of specific cellular RNAs, and for the incorporation of mRNAs with signalling potential.