From Stress to Survival: Trophoblast-Derived Extracellular Vesicle Proteome Captures Aspirin-Driven Cellular Reprogramming in a Preeclampsia Model

Background: Low-dose aspirin (LDA) reduces preeclampsia (PE) risk by up to 40%, yet its molecular effects on chorion trophoblast cells (CTCs), a fetal membrane lineage at the feto-maternal interface, remain obscure. CTCs form a structural and immunoregulatory barrier whose dysfunction drives inflammation-associated membrane pathology in PE. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by CTCs may encode cellular stress and adaptation states, offering a molecular window into aspirin’s timing-dependent effects on PE risk modification. Methods: Human CTCs were challenged with cigarette smoke extract (CSE) to model oxidative stress-driven PE pathology. Two paradigms were tested: (1) prophylactic aspirin (4 and 40 µg/mL) before and/or flanking the CSE, and (2) therapeutic aspirin after the CSE challenge. The EVs were isolated via ultracentrifugation and size-exclusion chromatography, characterized by nanoparticle tracking and immunoblotting, and profiled by quantitative mass spectrometry. A network pathway analysis and machine learning biomarker selection defined the EV-encoded molecular states. Results: The CTC-derived EVs from the CSE-exposed cells carried a PE-like proteomic signature marked by suppressed VEGF/ECM remodeling, activated TNF-p53 apoptotic signaling, and heightened inflammation. Prophylactic low-dose aspirin shifted the EV cargo toward an EV-encoded signature consistent with preserved angiogenic potential (enrichment of VEGFA, COL1A1, and MMP14) and predicted attenuation of apoptotic and NF-κB pathway activity by an Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. High-dose aspirin produced broad transcriptional suppression without an accompanying pro-angiogenic EV signature. Therapeutic (post-injury) aspirin partially attenuated the injury-associated EV cargo but did not restore the angiogenic EV signature. An exploratory machine learning analysis of EV proteomes identified a candidate prophylactic biomarker panel anchored by HSPA8, SERPINF2, COL4A1, and PLOD1, mapped to the predicted angiogenic recovery and redox-balance pathways. These EV cargo readouts represent the predicted molecular states and require functional validation before clinical interpretation. Conclusions: The CTC-derived EV proteomic signatures capture the dose- and timing-dependent aspirin effects in this in vitro CTC model, positioning the chorion as a candidate pharmacological “secondary responder” favoring cellular resilience over classical anti-inflammatory suppression. As an exploratory hypothesis-generating study, EV-based molecular profiling could provide a foundation for future investigations aimed at stratifying aspirin responders from non-responders, although clinical validation in maternal plasma cohorts will be required before any translational application.