Abstract 6955: Activation of ERK pathway by mutant Ras oncoproteins derived from THP-1 cell exosomes

Abstract

Abstract The study of exosomes has attracted worldwide research due to its ability to modulate cellular activities, especially in the progression of cancer. Exosomes are membrane vesicles that can deliver lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids from one cell to another through membrane fusion, providing a unique form of cell-to-cell communication. It has been shown that KRAS G12V oncoprotein has been detected inside various pancreatic cancer cell derived exosomes. Our goal for this study was to examine the effect of KRAS G12V oncoprotein, detected inside exosomes isolated from THP-1 cell line supernatant, to activate MAPK pathway in MCF-7 breast cancer and AsPC-1 pancreatic cancer cells. To this end, we developed MILLIPLEX® immunoassays to detect cell signaling proteins as well as the exosome markers (CD9, CD63 and CD81), using Luminex® xMAP® technology which allows multiplex detection of proteins in a small volume of sample. Exosomes were isolated from THP-1 derived cell supernatant, using Qiagen exoEasy Maxi kit according to the kit protocol. KRAS G12V oncoprotein was detected in isolated THP-1 exosomes. As a control, THP-1 exosomes were enriched with exosome markers such as CD9, CD63 and CD81. After 48-hour incubation of AsPC-1 cells with KRAS G12V containing THP-1 exosomes, significant increase in KRAS G12V levels were detected in AsPC-1 cells. More importantly, this increase in KRAS G12V levels corresponded with an increase in phosphorylated ERK signaling, but not JNK, p38, NFκB, Akt, STAT3 and STAT3 pathways. In contrast, 48-hour incubation of MCF-7 cells with KRAS G12V containing THP-1 exosomes had no effect on any signaling pathways. Using MILLIPLEX® multiplex immunoassays, our data supports research findings that exosomes contain mitogenic signaling components that may enhance progression of cancer. Citation Format: Joseph B. Hwang, Laura Marquardt, Osama Sait, Brooke Gilliam, Qiang Xiao. Activation of ERK pathway by mutant Ras oncoproteins derived from THP-1 cell exosomes [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 6955.