MiRNA profiling of circulating EpCAM(+) extracellular vesicles: promising biomarkers of colorectal cancer.

ABSTRACT: Cancer cells secrete small membranous extracellular vesicles (EVs) into their microenvironment and circulation. These contain biomolecules, including proteins and microRNAs (miRNAs). Both circulating EVs and miRNAs have received much attention as biomarker candidates for non-invasive diagnostics. Here we describe a sensitive analytical method for isolation and subsequent miRNA profiling of epithelial-derived EVs from blood samples of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The epithelial-derived EVs were isolated by immunoaffinity-capture using the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) as marker. This approach mitigates some of the specificity issues observed in earlier studies of circulating miRNAs, in particular the negative influence of miRNAs released by erythrocytes, platelets and

SUBMITTER: Ostenfeld MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5005366 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature