Brett S I, Kim Y, Biggs C N, Chin J L, Leong H S
1] Department of Surgery, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada [2] Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Department of Surgery, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2015 Sep;18(3):213-20. doi: 10.1038/pcan.2015.17. Epub 2015 May 12.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived vesicles generated through a process of cell membrane shedding or storage vesicle release, as occurs during apoptosis, necrosis or exocytosis. Initially perceived as cellular by-products or 'dust' of insignificant biological importance, recent research has shed light on the role of EVs as mediators of intercellular communication, blood coagulation and disease progression. The prostate is a source of EVs and their abundance in complex biological fluids such as plasma, serum and urine make them compelling entities for a 'fluid biopsy'. As such, prostate cancer cell fragments (PCCF) are EVs generated by the tumor resident within the prostate and are also present in blood, expressing a portion of biomarkers representative of the primary tumor. High-throughput analytical techniques to determine biomarker expression on EVs is the last hurdle towards translating the full potential of prostate EVs for clinical use. We describe current state-of-the-art methods for the analysis of prostate-derived EVs in patient fluids such as plasma and the challenges that lie ahead in this emerging field of translational research.
细胞外囊泡（EVs）是通过细胞膜脱落或储存囊泡释放过程产生的细胞衍生囊泡，如在细胞凋亡、坏死或胞吐作用期间发生的那样。最初被视为生物学重要性微不足道的细胞副产物或“尘埃”，最近的研究揭示了EVs作为细胞间通讯、血液凝固和疾病进展介质的作用。前列腺是EVs的一个来源，它们在血浆、血清和尿液等复杂生物流体中的丰富程度使其成为“液体活检”的引人注目的实体。因此，前列腺癌细胞碎片（PCCF）是由前列腺内的肿瘤产生的EVs，也存在于血液中，表达一部分代表原发性肿瘤的生物标志物。确定EVs上生物标志物表达的高通量分析技术是将前列腺EVs的全部潜力转化为临床应用的最后一个障碍。我们描述了用于分析患者体液（如血浆）中前列腺衍生EVs的当前最先进方法，以及在这个新兴的转化研究领域中面临的挑战。
