Blood Plasma Exosomes Research Articles

Proteome analysis of circulating exosomes in health and breast cancer

Microvesicles were isolated from blood plasma and total blood of healthy females and breast cancer patients by filtration and ultracentrifugation. According to flow cytometry, different subpopulations of exosomes were represented in blood of healthy donors and cancer patients at different levels with median fluorescence intensity (MFI) values in both groups arranged in the following order: CD24/СD9 > СD9/СD81 > CD9/CD63 = CD24/CD63. Concentration of exosomes in blood plasma of healthy females estimated by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) did not exceed (3.71 ± 1.15) × 107 particles/mL of blood and did not differ from that in plasma of breast cancer patients, which averaged (3.99 ± 1.03) × 107 particles/mL of blood. Concentration of total exosomes in blood (including exosomes from plasma and blood cell surface-bound exosomes) did not depend on the presence/absence of a tumor; the values were (7.66 ± 0.7) × 107 particles/mL of healthy blood and (9.4 ± 1.24) × 107 particles/mL of blood from cancer patients. Comparative analysis of exosomes using 2-D electrophoresis with subsequent analysis of 2-D proteomic maps revealed proteins missing in blood or differentially expressed in healthy females and breast cancer women. The data presented provide the possibility for identification of exosomal proteomic markers and isolation of tumor-specific exosomes, which contributes to the development of breast cancer diagnostics.

A microfluidic ExoSearch chip for multiplexed exosome detection towards blood-based ovarian cancer diagnosis.

Tumor-derived circulating exosomes, enriched with a group of tumor antigens, have been recognized as a promising biomarker source for cancer diagnosis via a less invasive procedure. Quantitatively pinpointing exosome tumor markers is appealing, yet challenging. In this study, we developed a simple microfluidic approach (ExoSearch) which provides enriched preparation of blood plasma exosomes for in situ, multiplexed detection using immunomagnetic beads. The ExoSearch chip offers a robust, continuous-flow design for quantitative isolation and release of blood plasma exosomes in a wide range of preparation volumes (10 μL to 10 mL). We employed the ExoSearch chip for blood-based diagnosis of ovarian cancer by multiplexed measurement of three exosomal tumor markers (CA-125, EpCAM, CD24) using a training set of ovarian cancer patient plasma, which showed significant diagnostic power (a.u.c. = 1.0, p = 0.001) and was comparable with the standard Bradford assay. This work provides an essentially needed platform for utilization of exosomes in clinical cancer diagnosis, as well as fundamental exosome research.

Abstract 4743: Exosomes in motion: Visualizing cancer metastasis via the Synaptotagmin C2B domain

Abstract Exosomes play pivotal roles in intercellular communication and cancer progression. Recent findings have shown exosomes to incite proangiogenesis and prepare lymph nodes as remote niches for accumulation and migration of melanoma cells. Exosomes present a highly curved morphology with a size range of ∼30-100 nm that is distinct from other lipid vesicles. Furthermore, exosomes have the potential as a general metastasis biomarker since their increased secretion in the peripheral blood has been correlated with cancer metastasis. Since aqueous suspensions of exosomes cannot be seen by conventional optical methods, we hypothesized that a molecular probe that binds to exosomes could be a novel tool for detecting these vesicles. We aim to develop a minimally-invasive diagnostic tool to detect and measure secreted exosomes as biomarkers of cancer metastasis that may help clinicians and patients decide on an appropriate therapeutic action. Taking a cue from nature and using solid phase ‘Click’ chemistry as a technique for peptide modification, we created a fluorophore-tagged cyclic peptide based on the membrane penetrating C2B domain of Synaptotagmin I. We investigated the peptide-lipid interactions using synthetic liposomes as preliminary models of exosomes through a combination of spectroscopic techniques. We found that the peptide probe was selective for highly curved liposomes (d <100 nm) and does not bind to low curvature liposomes (d >100 nm). We tested blood plasma samples from rat models to find out if our preliminary findings would translate to the detection of exosomes. Our results showed that blood plasma treated with the peptide probe showed fluorescence intensity that was remarkably higher than the untreated peptide, which indicated binding to exosomes. Furthermore, we used a real time nanoparticle tracking analysis system to visualize the exosomes in a dynamic and physiologically-relevant medium. The peptide-treated exosomes were detected as fast-moving, fluorescent particles even in the complex matrix of blood plasma. This technique provided us with a platform to study the size distribution and concentration of exosomes in blood plasma. We have created a peptide probe that selectively binds to exosomes from an animal model. The investigation of the exosome binding property of this probe on clinically relevant samples is ongoing. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4743. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4743

S.93. Characterization of Tumor-derived Exosomes and Their Role in Immunoregulation

Tumor cells usually express specific antigens that are potentially immunogenic; however, established tumors primarily induce immune tolerance. In the last decade, a population of small membrane vesicles, termed has gained increasing attention for their potential role in tumor immune regulation. Exosomes are formed in the late endocytic compartments and are released upon their fusion with the plasma membrane. They are secreted by various cell types, especially tumor cells and cells in the hematopoietic system. Although tumor-derived exosomes usually contain tumor antigens, they have been shown to exert diverse immunosuppressive effects. However, the ability of tumor-derived exosomes to induce antigen-specific immunosuppression has not been well examined. Also, the immunoregulatory effect of exosome-like vesicles in the blood circulation of tumor-bearing hosts remains unclear. In this thesis, we first investigate the role of tumor-derived exosomes in mediating antigen-specific immune suppression using ovalbumin (OVA) as a model tumor antigen. We demonstrate that exosomes derived from OVA-expressing tumor cell lines potently suppress OVA-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response. We also show that exosomes are mostly taken up by dendritic cells (DCs) after local administration, and the mRNA levels of TGF-beta1 and IL-4 in the draining lymph node were significantly elevated in correlation with suppression of the DTH response. Furthermore, tumor-derived exosomes affect the function of DCs in vitro by inhibiting their maturation and inducing TGF-beta1 production. These results suggest that tumor-derived exosomes are able to confer antigen-specific immune suppression possibly by DC-mediated mechanism. We further investigate the immunoregulatory effect of plasma-derived exosomes and demonstrate that plasma-derived exosomes isolated from mice bearing OVA-expressing tumors are able to suppress the OVA-specific DTH response. However, enrichment of tumor-derived exosomes in blood plasma was not identified and the suppressive effect is partially mediated by the MHC class II+ vesicle portion. The third part of the thesis discusses the B cell stimulatory and the consequent T cell inhibitory effect of exosomes derived from tumor cells with mycoplasma infection. The work presented in this thesis increases our understanding of the immunoregulatory role of tumor-derived exosomes, circulating exosomes in tumor-bearing hosts as well as exosomes derived from pathogen-infected tumor cells.