Cerebrovascular pathology that involves altered protein levels (or signaling) of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) family has been associated with various forms of age-related dementias, including Alzheimer disease (AD) and vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). Transgenic mice overexpressing TGFβ1 in the brain (TGF mice) recapitulate VCID-associated cerebrovascular pathology and develop cognitive deficits in old age or when submitted to comorbid cardiovascular risk factors for dementia. We characterized the cerebrovascular proteome of TGF mice using mass spectrometry (MS)-based quantitative proteomics. Cerebral arteries were surgically removed from 6-month-old-TGF and wild-type mice, and proteins were extracted and analyzed by gel-free nanoLC-MS/MS. We identified 3602 proteins in brain vessels, with 20 demonstrating significantly altered levels in TGF mice. For total and/or differentially expressed proteins (p ≤ 0.01, ≥ 2-fold change), using multiple databases, we (a) performed protein characterization, (b) demonstrated the presence of their RNA transcripts in both mouse and human cerebrovascular cells, and (c) demonstrated that several of these proteins were present in human extracellular vesicles (EVs) circulating in blood. Finally, using human plasma, we demonstrated the presence of several of these proteins in plasma and plasma EVs. Dysregulated proteins point to perturbed brain vessel vasomotricity, remodeling, and inflammation. Given that blood-isolated EVs are novel, attractive, and a minimally invasive biomarker discovery platform for age-related dementias, several proteins identified in this study can potentially serve as VCID markers in humans.

A cerebrovascular pathology that involves altered protein levels or signaling of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) family has been associated with various forms of dementia, including Alzheimer disease (AD) and vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). Transgenic mice overexpressing TGFβ1 in the brain (TGF mice) recap VCID-associated cerebrovascular pathology and develop cognitive deficits in old age or when submitted to comorbid cardiovascular risk-factors for dementia. Here, we characterized the cerebrovascular proteome of TGF mice using mass-spectrometry (MS) based quantitative proteomics. Cerebral arteries were surgically removed from 6-month-old-TGF and wild-type mice, proteins extracted and analyzed by gel-free nanoLC-MS/MS. We identified 3,602 proteins in brain vessels, with 20 demonstrating robust altered levels in TGF mice. For total and/or differentially-expressed proteins ( p ≤0.01, ≥2-fold change), using multiple databases, we performed protein characterization, and identified proteins demonstrating RNA-transcripts in both mouse and human cerebrovascular cells, and known to be present in human-extracellular-vesicles (EVs). Dysregulated proteins point to perturbed brain vessel vasomotricity, remodeling, and inflammation. Given that blood-isolated EVs are novel, attractive and a minimally invasive biomarker discovery platform for the age-related dementias, several proteins identified in this study can potentially serve as VCID markers in humans.