Project description:The aim of this study was to identify a urine extracellular vesicle circular RNA (circRNA) classifier that could detect high-grade prostate cancer (PCa) of Grade Group (GG) 2 or greater. For this purpose, we used RNA sequencing to identify candidate circRNAs from urinary extracellular vesicles from 11 patients with high-grade PCa and 11 case-matched patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Using ddPCR in a training cohort (n = 263), we built a urine extracellular vesicle circRNA classifier (Ccirc, containing circPDLIM5, circSCAF8, circPLXDC2, circSCAMP1, and circCCNT2), which was evaluated in two independent cohorts (n = 497, n = 505). Ccirc showed higher accuracy than two standard of care risk calculators (RCs) (PCPT-RC 2.0 and ERSPC-RC) in both the training cohort and the validation cohorts. In all three cohorts, this novel urine extracellular vesicle circRNA classifier plus RCs was statistically more predictive than RCs alone for predicting ≥ GG2 PCa. This assay, which does not require precollection digital rectal examination nor special handling, is repeatable, noninvasive, and can be easily implemented as part of the basic clinical workflow.
Project description:PurposeProstate specific antigen has limited performance in detecting prostate cancer. The transcription factor GATA2 is expressed in aggressive prostate cancer. We analyzed the predictive value of urine extracellular vesicle GATA2 mRNA alone and in combination with a multigene panel to improve detection of prostate cancer and high risk disease.Materials and methodsGATA2 mRNA was analyzed in matched extracellular vesicles isolated from urines before and after prostatectomy (16) and paired urine and tissue prostatectomy samples (19). Extracellular vesicle GATA2 mRNA performance to distinguish prostate cancer and high grade disease was tested in training (52) and validation (165) cohorts. The predictive value of a multigene score including GATA2, PCA3 and TMPRSS2-ERG (GAPT-E) was tested in both cohorts.ResultsConfirming its prostate origin, urine extracellular vesicle GATA2 mRNA levels decreased significantly after prostatectomy and correlated with prostate cancer tissue GATA2 mRNA levels. In the training and validation cohort GATA2 discriminated prostate cancer (AUC 0.74 and 0.66) and high grade disease (AUC 0.78 and 0.65), respectively. Notably, the GAPT-E score improved discrimination of prostate cancer (AUC 0.84 and 0.72) and high grade cancer (AUC 0.85 and 0.71) in both cohorts when compared with each biomarker alone and PT-E (PCA3 and TMPRSS2-ERG). A GAPT-E score for high grade prostate cancer would avoid 92.1% of unnecessary prostate biopsies, compared to 61.9% when a PT-E score is used.ConclusionsUrine extracellular vesicle GATA2 mRNA analysis improves the detection of high risk prostate cancer and may reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies.
Project description:Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are involved in intercellular communication, transporting proteins and nucleic acids to proximal and distal regions. There is evidence of glycosylation influencing protein routing into EVs; however, the impact of aberrant cellular glycotransferase expression on EV protein profiles has yet to be evaluated. In this study, we paired extracellular vesicle characterization and quantitative proteomics to determine the systemic impact of altered α(1,6)fucosyltranferase (FUT8) expression on prostate cancer-derived EVs. Our results showed that increased cellular expression of FUT8 could reduce the number of vesicles secreted by prostate cancer cells as well as increase the abundance of proteins associated with cell motility and prostate cancer metastasis. In addition, overexpression of FUT8 resulted in altered glycans on select EV-derived glycoproteins. This study presents the first evidence of altered cellular glycosylation impacting EV protein profiles and provides further rationale for exploring the functional role of glycosylation in EV biogenesis and biology.
Project description:Urine contains extracellular vesicles (EVs) that concentrate molecules and protect them from degradation. Thus, isolation and characterisation of urinary EVs could increase the efficiency of biomarker discovery. We have previously identified proteins and RNAs with differential abundance in urinary EVs from prostate cancer (PCa) patients compared to benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). Here, we focused on the analysis of the metabolites contained in urinary EVs collected from patients with PCa and BPH. Targeted metabolomics analysis of EVs was performed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The correlation between metabolites and clinical parameters was studied, and metabolites with differential abundance in PCa urinary EVs were detected and mapped into cellular pathways. We detected 248 metabolites belonging to different chemical families including amino acids and various lipid species. Among these metabolites, 76 exhibited significant differential abundance between PCa and BPH. Interestingly, urine EVs recapitulated many of the metabolic alterations reported in PCa, including phosphathidylcholines, acyl carnitines, citrate and kynurenine. Importantly, we found elevated levels of the steroid hormone, 3beta-hydroxyandros-5-en-17-one-3-sulphate (dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate) in PCa urinary EVs, in line with the potential elevation of androgen synthesis in this type of cancer. This work supports urinary EVs as a non-invasive source to infer metabolic changes in PCa.
Project description:ADPKD is the most common genetic renal disease, characterized by the presence of multiple cysts which, through slow and gradual growth, lead to glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decline and end-stage renal disease. Cystic growth is associated with increased intracellular levels of 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are proposed to participate in "remote sensing" by transporting different cargoes, but their relevance to ADPKD progression is poorly understood. This study aimed to determine whether cAMP is contained in urinary EVs and, if so, how total and/or EV cAMP contents participate in disease progression. Fourteen ADPKD patients, naïve for V2 receptor antagonism treatment, and seven controls were studied. Progression was evaluated by estimating GFR (eGFR) and height-adjusted total kidney volume (htTKV). Fresh morning urine was collected to determine cAMP by the competitive radioligand assay. Urine EVs were isolated using an adapted centrifugation method and characterized by electron microscopy, dynamic light scanning, flow cytometry with FITC CD63 labeling, protein and RNA content, and AQP2 and GAPDH mRNA detection. Total and EV cAMP was measurable in both control and patient urine samples. Total cAMP was significantly correlated with eGFR and its annual change but inversely correlated with htTKV. The cAMP-EVs showed a bimodal pattern with htTKV, increasing to ~1 L/m and falling at larger sizes. Our results demonstrate that urine cAMP correlates with ADPKD progression markers, and that its extracellular delivery by EVs could reflect the architectural disturbances of the organ.
Project description:Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancers in males around the globe, and about one-third of patients with localized PCa will experience biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy. Reportedly, a proportion of patients with BCR had a poor prognosis. Cumulative studies have shown that RNA modifications participate in the cancer-related transcriptome, but the role of pseudouridylation occurring in lncRNAs in PCa remains opaque. Methods: Spearman correlation analysis and univariate Cox regression were utilized to determine pseudouridylation-related lncRNAs with prognostic value in PCa. Prognostic pseudouridylation-related lncRNAs were included in the LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) regression algorithm to develop a predictive model. KM (Kaplan-Meier) survival analysis and ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curves were applied to validate the constructed model. A battery of biological cell assays was conducted to confirm the cancer-promoting effects of RP11-468E2.5 in the model. Results: A classifier containing five pseudouridine-related lncRNAs was developed to stratify PCa patients on BCR and named the "ψ-lnc score." KM survival analysis showed patients in the high ψ-lnc score group experienced BCR more than those in the low ψ-lnc score group. ROC curves demonstrated that ψ-lnc score outperformed other clinical indicators in BCR prediction. An external dataset, GSE54460, was utilized to validate the predictive model's efficacy and authenticity. A ceRNA (competitive endogenous RNA) network was constructed to explore the model's potential molecular functions and was annotated through GO (Gene Ontology) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway analyses. RP11-468E2.5 was picked for further investigation, including pan-cancer analysis and experimental validation. Preliminarily, RP11-468E2.5 was confirmed as a tumor promoter. Conclusion: We provide some evidence that pseudouridylation in lncRNA played a role in the development of PCa and propose a novel prognostic classifier for clinical practice.
Project description:ObjectivesTo develop a risk classifier using urine-derived extracellular vesicle RNA (UEV-RNA) capable of providing diagnostic information of disease status prior to biopsy, and prognostic information for men on active surveillance (AS).Patients and methodsPost-digital rectal examination UEV-RNA expression profiles from urine (n = 535, multiple centres) were interrogated with a curated NanoString panel. A LASSO-based Continuation-Ratio model was built to generate four Prostate-Urine-Risk (PUR) signatures for predicting the probability of normal tissue (PUR-1), D'Amico Low-risk (PUR-2), Intermediate-risk (PUR-3), and High-risk (PUR-4) PCa. This model was applied to a test cohort (n = 177) for diagnostic evaluation, and to an AS sub-cohort (n = 87) for prognostic evaluation.ResultsEach PUR signature was significantly associated with its corresponding clinical category (p<0.001). PUR-4 status predicted the presence of clinically significant Intermediate or High-risk disease, AUC = 0.77 (95% CI: 0.70-0.84). Application of PUR provided a net benefit over current clinical practice. In an AS sub-cohort (n=87), groups defined by PUR status and proportion of PUR-4 had a significant association with time to progression (p<0.001; IQR HR = 2.86, 95% CI:1.83-4.47). PUR-4, when utilised continuously, dichotomised patient groups with differential progression rates of 10% and 60% five years post-urine collection (p<0.001, HR = 8.23, 95% CI:3.26-20.81).ConclusionUEV-RNA can provide diagnostic information of aggressive PCa prior to biopsy, and prognostic information for men on AS. PUR represents a new & versatile biomarker that could result in substantial alterations to current treatment of PCa patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Project description:Extracellular vesicle-bound DNA (evDNA) is an understudied extracellular vesicle (EV) cargo, particularly in cancer-unrelated research. Although evDNA has been detected in urine, little is known about its characteristics, localization, and biomarker potential for kidney pathologies. To address this, we enriched EVs from urine of well-characterized kidney transplant recipients undergoing allograft biopsy, characterized their evDNA and its association to allograft injury. The SEC-based method enriched pure EVs from urine of kidney transplant recipients, regardless of the allograft injury. Urinary evDNA represented up to 29.2 ± 8% (mean ± SD) of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and correlated with cfDNA in several characteristics but was less fragmented (P < 0.001). Importantly, using DNase treatment and immunogold labelling TEM, we demonstrated that evDNA was bound to the surface of urinary EVs. Normalised evDNA yield (P = 0.042) and evDNA copy number (P = 0.027) significantly differed between patients with normal histology, rejection injury and non-rejection injury, the later groups having significantly larger uEVs (mean diameter, P = 0.045) and more DNA bound per uEV. ddDNA is detectable in uEV samples of kidney allograft recipients, but its quantity is highly variable. In a proof-of-principle study, several evDNA characteristics correlated with clinical and histological parameters (P = 0.040), supporting that the potential of evDNA as a biomarker for kidney allograft injury should be further investigated.
Project description:Prostate cancer (PCa) lacks non-invasive specific biomarkers for aggressive disease. We studied the potential of urinary extracellular vesicles (uEV) as a liquid PCa biopsy by focusing on the micro RNA (miRNA) cargo, target messenger RNA (mRNA) and pathway analysis. We subjected uEV samples from 31 PCa patients (pre-prostatectomy) to miRNA sequencing and matched uEV and plasma EV (pEV) from three PCa patients to mRNA sequencing. EV quality control was performed by electron microscopy, Western blotting and particle and RNA analysis. We compared miRNA expression based on PCa status (Gleason Score) and progression (post-prostatectomy follow-up) and confirmed selected miRNAs by quantitative PCR. Expression of target mRNAs was mapped in matched EV. Quality control showed typical small uEV, pEV, RNA and EV-protein marker enriched samples. Comparisons between PCa groups revealed mostly unique differentially expressed miRNAs. However, they targeted comprehensive and largely overlapping sets of cancer and progression-associated signalling, resistance, hormonal and immune pathways. Quantitative PCR confirmed changes in miR-892a (Gleason Score 7 vs. ≥8), miR-223-3p (progression vs. no progression) and miR-146a-5p (both comparisons). Their target mRNAs were expressed widely in PCa EV. PCa status and progression-linked RNAs in uEV are worth exploration in large personalized medicine trials.