Media release

From: Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute

Every second, trillions of tiny parcels travel through your bloodstream - carrying vital information between your body’s cells. Now, scientists at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute have opened this molecular mail for the first time, revealing its contents in astonishing detail.

In research published in Nature Cell Biology, Professor David W. Greening and Dr Alin Rai have mapped the complete molecular blueprint of extracellular vesicles (EVs) - nanosized particles in blood that act as the body’s secret messengers.

For decades, researchers have known that EVs exist, ferrying proteins, fats, and genetic material that mirror the health of their cells of origin. But because blood is a complex mixture - packed with cholesterol, antibodies, and millions of other particles - isolating EVs has long been one of science’s toughest challenges.

“These vesicles are like tiny envelopes sent between cells, delivering molecular updates about what’s happening inside the body,” says Dr Rai. “Until now, we just couldn’t open them properly to read the messages inside.”

In partnership with the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University, using ultra-pure isolation techniques and cutting-edge multi-omics profiling, the team identified 182 proteins and 52 lipids that make up the core structure of human plasma EVs. They also pinpointed another set of molecules that distinguish EVs from other particles in the bloodstream - effectively decoding the body’s molecular communication system.

To make this discovery accessible, the researchers developed EVMap (https://evmap.shinyapps.io/evmap/ - a free, interactive online resource that lets scientists worldwide explore the molecular makeup of blood EVs).

“By decoding this molecular language, we can begin to read the body’s own health reports,” says Professor Greening. “We’ve already identified EV signatures linked to early heart disease, which could pave the way for simple blood tests that predict risk long before symptoms appear.”

Dr Rai says, “This is a major step forward in understanding how our cells talk - and how listening to those messages could transform disease diagnosis and treatment”.