Project description:Bladder cancer exhibits molecular heterogeneity that complicates early diagnosis and prognosis, and drives confounding clinical outcomes. Non–muscle invasive and muscle-invasive subtypes, especially for intermediate to high grade, carry a 25 – 50% progression-free survival rate, underscoring the need for high precision prognostic strategy. Urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) are promising carriers of tumor-derived RNAs and proteins. However, significant challenges in studying uEVs arise from the diverse cellular origin of uEVs associated with the dynamic composition of urine, which presents roadblocks for developing the clinical utility of uEVs. We introduced an AI-driven EV liquid biopsy pipeline that integrates (1) standardized EV isolation via NanoPom magnetic beads, (2) transcriptomic profiling for molecular subtyping, and (3) prognostic scoring algorithm. In a discovery cohort of 16 bladder cancer patients including both MIBC and NMIBC, we compared NanoPom isolated uEVs with ExoEasy and Fujifilm MagCapture isolated uEVs, for identifying bladder cancer subtype-specific gene signatures, and externally validated them using UCSC Xena. The result outperformed currently reported bladder cancer diagnostic biomarkers from assays including Galeas, CxBladder, and Xpert. In a validation cohort of matched 7 patient plasma samples, we confirmed with plasma derived EVs for correlating with urinary EV biomarkers from NGS sequencing. The prognostic score stratified patients into low-, intermediate-, and high-grade risk groups based on Xena's bladder cancer survival outcomes. Our AI-driven uEV liquid biopsy pipeline proves the concept for high precision bladder cancer subtyping and prognosis, which could potentially facilitate treatment decision and lead to advanced profiling of bladder tumor biology using uEV liquid biopsy.
Project description:Fibrosis is a common pathway in the progression of chronic kidney disease. Extracellular matrix deposition from myofibroblasts causes scarring, tissue stiffness and organ failure. This submission studies the role of Sex determining region Y-box 9 (SOX9) in kidney fibrosis.
Project description:Analysis of urinary bladder in wild-type C57BL/6 females sacrificed every 4 hours at six time points under constant darkness after acclimation for 2 weeks under 12-hour light and 12-hour dark conditions. Results provide insight into circadian gene expression patterns in normal urinary bladder. Analysis of urinary bladder in wild-type C57BL/6 females sacrificed every 4 hours at six time points (n=2 for each time (CT 0, 4, 8, 12 and 20)) under constant darkness after acclimation for 2 weeks under 12-hour light and 12-hour dark conditions.
Project description:Urinary bladder wound healing is today pooorly chracterized. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNA molecules with regulatory functions. In this study we aimed at identifying microRNAs expressed during bladder wound healing. We performed Affymetrix microRNA profiling of the rodent urinary bladder during healing of a surgically created wound.
Project description:Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for about 2% of all cancers. Renal biopsy is the gold standard among the diagnostic tools, but it is invasive and not suitable for all patients. Therefore, new reliable and non-invasive biomarkers for ccRCC detection are required. Secretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs), containing RNA molecules that can be transferred between cells, seems to be a general characteristic of malignant transformation. Consistently, cancer-derived EVs are enriched in the blood, urine and various malignant effusions of cancer patients. Therefore, urinary samples can be a non-invasive approach for discovering diagnostic biomarkers. Methods: We enrolled 33 clear-cell RCC (ccRCC) patients and 22 healthy subjects (HS), age and sex-matched, for urine collection and extracellular vesicles isolation by differential centrifugation. Transcriptional profiles of urinary EVs from 12 patients with ccRCC and 11 HS were generated using the Illumina HumanHT-12 v4 BeadChip oligonucleotide arrays. Microarray analysis led to the identification of RNA that were then validated using RT-qPCR. Results: We showed for the first time that urinary exosomal shuttle RNA (esRNA) was significantly different in ccRCC patients compared to HS and we identified three EVs esRNA involved in the tumor biology that are potentially suitable as non-invasive biomarkers. GSTA1, CEBPA and PCBD1 RNA levels decreased in urinary EVs of patients compared to HS. After 1 month post-operation, the levels of RNA increased to reach the normal level. Conclusions: This study suggests, for the first time, the potential use of the RNA content of urinary EVs to provide a non-invasive first step to diagnose the ccRCC. Total RNA obtained from urinary extracellular vesicles isolated from ccRCC patients and healthy subjects.
Project description:Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers. Since prognosis ameliorates with early detection, it is a challenge to develop techniques that could replace or complement the current diagnosis protocols. The study of extracellular vesicles (EVs) that are present in urine samples has become an attractive alternative. The present study describes the mRNA content of vesicles isolated from voided urine samples within bladder cancer context. To discover a genetic signature of cancer, RNA associated to EVs was analyzed by microarray technique. Total RNA isolated from Extracellular Vesicles obtained from urine of bladder cancer patients was compared with RNA isolated from urinary vesicles of non-cancer patients.
Project description:Analysis of urinary bladder in wild-type C57BL/6 females sacrificed every 4 hours at six time points under constant darkness after acclimation for 2 weeks under 12-hour light and 12-hour dark conditions. Results provide insight into circadian gene expression patterns in normal urinary bladder.
Project description:Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is the most common tumour type in canine bladder cancer. Current diagnostic methods are technically challenging or can lack specificity, hence there is a need for novel biomarkers of UC. To this end, we analysed the microRNA (miRNA) cargo of extracellular vesicles (EVs) from urine samples of dogs with UC to identify miRNAs that could be utilised as biomarkers. Urine was fractionated using ultrafiltration combined with size-exclusion chromatography and small RNA sequencing analysis was performed on both the EV enriched and (EV free) protein fractions. A greater number of candidate miRNA biomarkers were detected in the EV fraction than the protein fraction, and further validation using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) was performed on the EV enriched fraction of a second cohort of dogs with bladder cancer which validated three miRNAs as candidate biomarkers; miR-182, miR-221 and miR-222 as being significantly overrepresented in dogs with UC when compared with healthy dogs and dogs with urinary tract infections. Pathway analysis confirmed that these three miRNAs are involved in cancer. In addition, their potential downstream gene targets were predicted and PIK3R1, a well-known oncogene is likely to be a shared target between miRNA-182 and miRNA-221/222. In summary, this study highlights the potential of urinary EV-associated miRNAs as a source of biomarkers for the diagnosis of canine UC.