Proteomic profiles of melanoma cell-derived exosomes in plasma: discovery of potential biomarkers of melanoma progression

Circulating tumor cell-derived exosome-transmitted long non-coding RNA TTN-AS1 can promote the proliferation and migration of cholangiocarcinoma cells

BACKGROUND

Exosomes assume a pivotal role as essential mediators of intercellular communication within tumor microenvironments. Within this context, long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) have been observed to be preferentially sorted into exosomes, thus exerting regulatory control over the initiation and progression of cancer through diverse mechanisms.

RESULTS

Exosomes were successfully isolated from cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) CTCs organoid and healthy human serum. Notably, the LncRNA titin-antisense RNA1 (TTN-AS1) exhibited a conspicuous up-regulation within CCA CTCs organoid derived exosomes. Furthermore, a significant elevation of TTN-AS1 expression was observed in tumor tissues, as well as in blood and serum exosomes from patients afflicted with CCA. Importantly, this hightened TTN-AS1 expression in serum exosomes of CCA patients manifested a strong correlation with both lymph node metastasis and TNM staging. Remarkably, both CCA CTCs organoid-derived exosomes and CCA cells-derived exosomes featuring pronounced TTN-AS1 expression demonstrated the capability to the proliferation and migratory potential of CCA cells. Validation of these outcomes was conducted in vivo experiments.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, our study elucidating that CCA CTCs-derived exosomes possess the capacity to bolster the metastasis tendencies of CCA cells by transporting TTN-AS1. These observations underscore the potential of TTN-AS1 within CTCs-derived exosomes to serve as a promising biomarker for the diagnosis and therapeutic management of CCA.

Deep proteomic analysis of obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome by DIA-MS of extracellular vesicle enriched fractions

Proteins in the plasma/serum mirror an individual's physiology. Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) proteins constitute a large portion of the plasma/serum proteome. Thus, deep and unbiased proteomic analysis of circulating plasma/serum extracellular vesicles holds promise for discovering disease biomarkers as well as revealing disease mechanisms. We established a workflow for simple, deep, and reproducible proteome analysis of both serum large and small EVs enriched fractions by ultracentrifugation plus 4D-data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry (4D-DIA-MS). In our cohort study of obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome (OAPS), 4270 and 3328 proteins were identified from large and small EVs enriched fractions respectively. Both of them revealed known or new pathways related to OAPS. Increased levels of von Willebrand factor (VWF) and insulin receptor (INSR) were identified as candidate biomarkers, which shed light on hypercoagulability and abnormal insulin signaling in disease progression. Our workflow will significantly promote our understanding of plasma/serum-based disease mechanisms and generate new biomarkers.

Evaluating tumor cell- and T cell-derived extracellular vesicles as potential biomarkers of cancer and immune cell competence

INTRODUCTION

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) produced by tumors, also called tumor-derived exosomes (TEX), have been implicated in inducing immune cell suppression in vitro and in vivo. The development of a novel category of noninvasive biomarkers for precision oncology remains an unmet need, and TEX emerge as a promising liquid tumor biopsy component.

AREAS COVERED

TEX play a critical role in monitoring cancer presence/progression and in reprograming of anti-tumor effector T cells to producers of EVs with pro-tumor activity. TEX are a subset of circulating EVs. Their separation by immune capture from EVs derived from nonmalignant cells allows for TEX phenotypic/functional assessments. TEX cross-talking with CD3(+) T cells induce the release of CD3(+) small EV (sEV), whose cargo of suppressor proteins resembles that of TEX and further contributes to cancer-induced immune suppression. While TEX recapitulate the genetic/molecular phenotype of tumor cells, CD3(+) sEV might serve as 'T cell liquid biopsy.'

EXPERT OPINION

Preclinical explorations of the role in cancer body fluids of TEX and CD3(+) sEV as cancer biomarkers suggest that these EV subsets may qualify as liquid tumor biopsy noninvasive components in the near future. Their potential to simultaneously serve as noninvasive liquid tumor biopsy and T cell biopsy remains to be validated in future clinical trials.

Current Trends in Circulating Biomarkers for Melanoma Detection

Melanomas have increased in global incidence and are the leading cause of skin cancer deaths. Whilst the majority of early-stage, non-metastatic melanomas can be cured with surgical excision alone, ~5% of patients with early melanomas will experience recurrence following a variable disease-free interval and progression to metastatic melanoma and ultimately death. This is likely because of primary tumor heterogeneity and progressive clonal divergency resulting in the growth of more aggressive tumor populations. Liquid biomarkers have the advantage of real-time, non-invasive longitudinal monitoring of tumor burden and heterogeneity over tissue markers. Currently, the only serological marker used in the staging and monitoring of melanoma is serum lactate dehydrogenase, which is not sufficiently specific or sensitive, and is not used routinely in all centers. An ideal melanoma biomarker would be used to identify patients who are at high-risk of primary melanoma, screen for relapse, detect early-stage melanoma, provide treatment outcomes to personalize systemic treatment, follow tumor heterogeneity, provide prognostic data before, during and after treatment, and monitor response to treatment. This review provides a summary of the current research in this field with a specific focus on circulating tumor cells, circulating tumor DNA, microRNA, and extracellular vesicles which may serve to suit these goals.