Peripheral Blood Cell Interactions of Cancer-Derived Exosomes Affect Immune Function

Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling of Extracellular Vesicles

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid membrane bound-cell-derived structures that are a key player in intercellular communication and facilitate numerous cellular functions such as tumor growth, metastasis, immunosuppression, and angiogenesis. They can be used as a drug delivery platform because they can protect drugs from degradation and target specific cells or tissues. With the advancement in the technologies and methods in EV research, EV-therapeutics are one of the fast-growing domains in the human health sector. Therapeutic translation of EVs in clinics requires assessing the quality, safety, and efficacy of the EVs, in which pharmacokinetics is very crucial. We report here the application of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling as a principal tool for the prediction of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of EVs. To create a PBPK model of EVs, researchers would need to gather data on the size, shape, and composition of the EVs, as well as the physiological processes that affect their behavior in the body. The PBPK model would then be used to predict the pharmacokinetics of drugs delivered via EVs, such as the rate at which the drug is absorbed and distributed throughout the body, the rate at which it is metabolized and eliminated, and the maximum concentration of the drug in the body. This information can be used to optimize the design of EV-based drug delivery systems, including the size and composition of the EVs, the route of administration, and the dose of the drug. There has not been any dedicated review article that describes the PBPK modeling of EV. This review provides an overview of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) phenomena of EVs. In addition, we will briefly describe the different computer-based modeling approaches that may help in the future of EV-based therapeutic research.

Epigenteic Alteration of DOK7 Gene CpG Island in Blood Leukocyte of Patients with Gastric Cancer and Intestinal Methaplasia

Background

Intestinal metaplasia (IM) is a benign lesion with no serious concern for patients' health. On the other hand, gastric cancer (GC) is a malignant lesion that has to be differentially diagnosed from benign intestinal metaplasia. Epigenetic modifications have been suggested to play an important role in cancer initiation and development, and they have been investigated as a reliable biomarker tool even for early cancer diagnosis. Whole blood leucocytes (WBC) are potentially the most accessible tissue for cancer early diagnosis, especially for GC, which is hard to diagnose in the early stage.

Objective

This study aims to investigate the methylation status of DOK7 gene CpG island in blood leukocytes of patients with IM and GC compared to normal control groups.

Material and Method

DNA was extracted from the whole blood of 30 IM patients, 30 GC patients, and 34 normal controls samples, and MSRE-PCR was utilized to evaluate the loci methylation status.

Results

Significant hypermethylation of DOK7 gene CpG has been observed in GC 88.1 % (p < 0.001) and IM 66.0 % (p = 0.03) in comparison to the normal control group 56.8%. A cutoff upper than 84.5 % of hypermethylation is considered as a presence of gastric cancer malignant lesions.

Conclusions

This is the first reported on hypermethylation in DOK7 CPG in blood leukocytes of patients with GC and IM and establishing a laboratory blood based test that may be useful as a novel biomarker test in the early diagnosis and screaning of GC and IM.

Advances in Biosensors Technology for Detection and Characterization of Extracellular Vesicles

Exosomes are extracellular vehicles (EVs) that encapsulate genomic and proteomic material from the cell of origin that can be used as biomarkers for non-invasive disease diagnostics in point of care settings. The efficient and accurate detection, quantification, and molecular profiling of exosomes are crucial for the accurate identification of disease biomarkers. Conventional isolation methods, while well-established, provide the co-purification of proteins and other types of EVs. Exosome purification, characterization, and OMICS analysis are performed separately, which increases the complexity, duration, and cost of the process. Due to these constraints, the point-of-care and personalized analysis of exosomes are limited in clinical settings. Lab-on-a-chip biosensing has enabled the integration of isolation and characterization processes in a single platform. The presented review discusses recent advancements in biosensing technology for the separation and detection of exosomes. Fluorescent, colorimetric, electrochemical, magnetic, and surface plasmon resonance technologies have been developed for the quantification of exosomes in biological fluids. Size-exclusion filtration, immunoaffinity, electroactive, and acoustic-fluid-based technologies were successfully applied for the on-chip isolation of exosomes. The advancement of biosensing technology for the detection of exosomes provides better sensitivity and a reduced signal-to-noise ratio. The key challenge for the integration of clinical settings remains the lack of capabilities for on-chip genomic and proteomic analysis.

Non-coding RNAs in necroptosis, pyroptosis and ferroptosis in cancer metastasis

Distant metastasis is the main cause of death for cancer patients. Recently, the newly discovered programmed cell death includes necroptosis, pyroptosis, and ferroptosis, which possesses an important role in the process of tumor metastasis. At the same time, it is widely reported that non-coding RNA precisely regulates programmed death and tumor metastasis. In the present review, we summarize the function and role of necroptosis, pyrolysis, and ferroptosis involving in cancer metastasis, as well as the regulatory factors, including non-coding RNAs, of necroptosis, pyroptosis, and ferroptosis in the process of tumor metastasis.

Bioactive DNA from extracellular vesicles and particles

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) and particles (EPs) have recently emerged as active carriers of molecular biomarkers and mediators of intercellular communication. While most investigations have focused exclusively on the protein, lipid and RNA constituents of these extracellular entities, EV/EP DNA remains poorly understood, despite DNA being found in association with virtually all EV/EP populations. The functional potential of EV/EP DNA has been proposed in a number of pathological states, including malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Moreover, the effectiveness of cell-free DNA as the biomarker of choice in emerging liquid biopsy applications highlights the role that EV/EP DNA may play as a novel disease biomarker. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of EV/EP DNA studies conducted to date, with a particular focus on the roles of EV/EP DNA as a functional mediator and molecular biomarker in various pathologic states. We also review what is currently known about the origins, structure, localisation and distribution of EV/EP DNA, highlighting current controversies as well as opportunities for future investigation.

Review of the Application of Nanovesicles and the Human Interstitial Fluid in Gastrointestinal Premalignant Lesion Detection, Diagnosis, Prognosis and Therapy

Premalignant lesions arise from cells that abnormally proliferate and have a tendency to become cancerous. Developing methods to specifically target and remove these premalignant lesions is imperative to the prevention of malignant progression into gastrointestinal (GI) tumors. However, accurate detection and diagnosis of GI precancerous lesions is challenging, as these lesions show little or no structural change. Thus, this prevents early intervention and reduces the success rate of therapy. In this review, we performed a systematic analysis of the technological advancements in the combined application of nanovesicles (NVs) and the human interstitial fluid (HIF) to specifically target GI premalignant lesions. NVs, which include quantum dots (QDs), are small membranous vehicles of a nanometer diameter that are widely used as drug delivery vectors, therapeutic effectors and diagnostic sensors. HIF is the fluid that is present in human interstitial tissues (HITs) in which signaling molecules and agents travel and can be found throughout the body. HIF is exploited by tumor cells for their invasion, migration and spread. Because the HITs span the entire submucosa of the gastrointestinal tract, they have been increasingly targeted in GI tumor therapy. The challenges involved in the combined application of NVs and HIF in the detection, diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of GI premalignant lesions are also discussed.

A highly efficient method for isolating urinary exosomes

In the present study, a highly efficient method, referred to as optimized ultrafiltration (OUF), was developed. This method is effective for exosome purification and also facilitates clinical work involving substantial urinary exosome isolation. In the OUF method, 0.22-µm filters along with a dialysis membrane with a molecular weight cut-off of 10,000 kDa were introduced, in order to remove extracellular microvesicles that were >200 nm and concentrate the supernatant up to 1/50 of the initial volume. The existence, purity and production of the exosomes isolated by OUF and conventional ultracentrifugation (UC) were systematically compared by transmission electron microscopy, western blotting and nanoparticle tracking analysis. In addition, colloidal Coomassie-stained gel and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to investigate the stability and integrity of exosomes isolated by these two protocols. The time required and cost of these two methods in the process of isolating urinary exosomes were also estimated. The results indicated that OUF clearly outperforms UC in quantity, quality and biological stability, and this improved method may have extensive applications in the growing fields of clinical biomarker discovery and exosome research.