Use of the Malaria Protein VAR2CSA for the Detection of Small Extracellular Vesicles to Diagnose Adenocarcinoma.

ABSTRACT: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) poses a significant challenge for early diagnosis due to the lack of sensitive and specific biomarkers. This encouraged us to explore the diagnostic value of cancer-derived small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) as early detection biomarkers. We previously showed that the recombinant malaria protein VAR2CSA (rVAR2) selectively binds to oncofetal chondroitin sulfate (ofCS) on the surfaces of cancer cells, which might be useful for identifying cancer-derived sEVs. Indeed, flow cytometry revealed strong ofCS expression in PDAC cell-derived sEVs, as evidenced by the presence of mutant KRAS, a common genetic alteration in PDAC. Plasma from PDAC patients showed significantly higher ofCS⁺ sEV levels compared to healthy donors and patients with benig

SUBMITTER: Zhao Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12003099 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature