Extracellular vesicles: potential applications in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and epidemiology

Abstract

Both normal and diseased cells continuously shed extracellular vesicles (EVs) into extracellular space, and the EVs carry molecular signatures and effectors of both health and disease. EVs reflect dynamic changes that are occurring in cells and tissue microenvironment in health and at a different stage of a disease. EVs are capable of altering the function of the recipient cells. Trafficking and reciprocal exchange of molecular information by EVs among different organs and cell types have been shown to contribute to horizontal cellular transformation, cellular reprogramming, functional alterations, and metastasis. EV contents may include tumor suppressors, phosphoproteins, proteases, growth factors, bioactive lipids, mutant oncoproteins, oncogenic transcripts, microRNAs, and DNA sequences. Therefore, the EVs present in biofluids offer unprecedented, remote, and non-invasive access to crucial molecular information about the health status of cells, including their driver mutations, classifiers, molecular subtypes, therapeutic targets, and biomarkers of drug resistance. In addition, EVs may offer a non-invasive means to assess cancer initiation, progression, risk, survival, and treatment outcomes. The goal of this review is to highlight the current status of information on the role of EVs in cancer, and to explore the utility of EVs for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and epidemiology.

Characteristics of exosomes andmicroparticles discovered in human tears

“…Исследования последних лет установили участие внеклеточных везикул и экзосом в процессах воспаления, иммунного ответа, канцерогенеза и метастазирования, патогенеза метаболических заболеваний [1,2]. Эти структуры в настоящее время рассматриваются в качестве универсальной информационной системы организма, обеспечивающей передачу молекулярных сигналов (белки, различные РНК, гликопротеины, липиды) между его органными и клеточными системами.…”

“…Grigor'eva 1 Exosomes represent a sort of extracellular vesicles, which transfer molecular signals in organism and possess markers of producing cells. Our study was aimed at search of exosomes in the tears of healthy humans, confirmation of their nature and examination of exosome morphological and molecular-biological characteristics.…”

Characterization of extracellular vesicles by IR spectroscopy: Fast and simple classification based on amide and C H stretching vibrations

“…Since EVs have been related to tumorigenesis [5,6], the spread of viruses and pathogenic agents as HIV-1 [7], amyloid--derived peptides [8] and -synuclein [9] (which are pathologically linked to Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, respectively), they may serve as biomarkers of disease and as potential therapeutic targets. Despite intense investigation, however, many properties and mechanisms remain elusive due to the lack of standardization of isolation and characterization methods which hinders the translation of EV-based diagnostics into clinical use [10].…”

Methods to isolate extracellular vesicles for diagnosis

“…b Microfluidics with filter pore size ~500 nm isolate EVs without aggregation. EVs have negatively charged phospholipid membranes and therefore move across filter membranes [98]. Moreover, EVs also can be used as vehicles for drug delivery in disease therapy [99].…”