Volatile Compounds Are Involved in Cellular Crosstalk and Upregulation

Abstract

Cell–cell cross talk is of great importance in cancer research due to its major role in proliferation, differentiation, migration, and influence on the apoptotic pathway. Different cell–cell communication mechanisms have come mainly from proteomic and genomic approaches. In this paper, a new route is reported for cross talk between cancer cells that occurs, even when they are far away from each other. Single‐cell and culture analysis shows that upregulation of cancer cells emits hundreds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into their headspace. Part of the VOCs remains without any change, disregarding the biological environment around it. The other part of the VOCs is exchanged between monocultures of the cells as well as between co‐cultures of the cells with no physical contact between them, leading to different changes in growth than when left on their own. The chemical nature and composition of these VOCs have been determined and are discussed herein. Cell‐to‐cell cross talk has the advantage of being suitable for transfer/diffusion over relatively long distances. It would thus be expected to serve as a shuttling pad toward the development of advanced approaches that could enable very early detection of cancer and/or monitoring of metastasis and related cancer therapy.

Profiles of Volatile Biomarkers Detect Tuberculosis from Skin

“…However, it provides preliminary proof for the feasibility of skin VOCs to serve as TB‐associated probe molecules. Furthermore, GC‐MS analysis can be used for investigation of the metabolic processes and their relation to VOCs, [ 18,19 ] and work up the nanomaterial‐based sensors and algorithms for better performance. [ 15,20 ]…”

“…In general, during disease formation, cells undergo structural and metabolic changes that change VOC patterns. [ 18,19,21 ] As a result, some of these VOCs appear in distinctive compositions of the mixture, depending on whether a cell is healthy or infected. [ 22–24 ]…”

“…However, it provides preliminary proof for the feasibility of skin VOCs to serve as TB-associated probe molecules. Furthermore, GC-MS analysis can be used for investigation of the metabolic processes and their relation to VOCs, [18,19] and work up the nanomaterial-based sensors and algorithms for better performance. [15,20] In South Africa, the analysis included: i) 89 confirmed pulmonary active TB patients; ii) 90 non-TB patients with healthy controls; and iii) 262 room samples.…”

“…In general, during disease formation, cells undergo structural and metabolic changes that change VOC patterns. [18,19,21] As a result, some of these VOCs appear in distinctive compositions of the mixture, depending on whether a cell is healthy or infected. [22][23][24] Toluene was found at significantly higher levels among confirmed pulmonary active TB patients in both clinical sites, yielding similar ratios to non-TB abundance, whereas the difference was negligible between the non-TB and room groups.…”

An Update on the Use of Exhaled Breath Analysis for the Early Detection of Lung Cancer

“…One of the most recent discoveries in the field of origins and nature of VOCs is the finding that they serve as cell-to-cell communication. In a novel study by Serasanambati et al 27 they proved for the first time in reported literature how cancer cells can induce changes in the phenotype of neighboring cells through the upregulation of VOCs. Among other interesting experiments, they co-cultured in an in-vitro fashion normal lung cells and tumoral cells, which shared their headspace but were physically unconnected.…”