The thrombus proteome in stroke reveals a key role of the innate immune system and new insights associated with its etiology, severity, and prognosis.

Background: Nowadays little is known about the molecular profile of the occluding thrombus of patients with ischemic stroke.

Objectives: To analyze the proteomic profile of thrombi in patients who experienced an ischemic stroke in order to gain insights into disease pathogenesis.

Methods: Thrombi from an exploratory cohort of patients who experienced a stroke were obtained by thrombectomy and analyzed by sequential window acquisition of all theoretical spectra-mass spectrometry. Unsupervised k-means clustering analysis was performed to stratify patients who experienced a stroke. The proteomic profile was associated with both the neurological function (National Institute of Health Stroke Scale [NIHSS]) and the cerebral involvement (Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score [ASPECTS]) prior to thrombectomy and the clinical status of patients at 3 months using the modified Rankin Scale. In an independent cohort of 210 patients who experienced a stroke, the potential role of neutrophils in stroke severity was interrogated.

Results: Proteomic analysis identified 580 proteins in thrombi, which were stratified into 4 groups: hemostasis, proteasome and neurological diseases, structural proteins, and innate immune system and neutrophils. The thrombus proteome identified 3 clusters of patients with distinctive severity, prognosis, and etiology of the stroke. A protein signature clearly distinguished atherothrombotic and cardioembolic strokes. Several proteins were significantly correlated with the severity of the stroke (NIHSS and ASPECTS). Functional proteomic analysis highlighted the prominent role of neutrophils in stroke severity. This was in line with the association of neutrophil activation markers and count with NIHSS, ASPECTS, and the modified Rankin Scale score 90 days after the event.

Conclusion: The use of sequential window acquisition of all theoretical spectra-mass spectrometry in thrombi from patients who experienced an ischemic stroke has provided new insights into pathways and players involved in its etiology, severity, and prognosis. The prominent role of the innate immune system identified might pave the way for the development of new biomarkers and therapeutic approaches in this disease.