Almeida Beatriz, Dias Tânia R, Cruz Pedro, Sousa-Pimenta Mário, Teixeira Ana Luísa, Pereira Catarina Esteves, Costa-Silva Bruno, Oliveira Júlio, Medeiros Rui, Dias Francisca
Molecular Oncology and Viral Pathology Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP) & RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center (Porto. CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
Research Department, Portuguese League Against Cancer Northern Branch (LPCC-NRN), 4200-172 Porto, Portugal.
Vaccines (Basel). 2024 Jul 28;12(8):848. doi: 10.3390/vaccines12080848.
Cancer patients, prone to severe COVID-19, face immune challenges due to their disease and treatments. Identifying biomarkers, particularly extracellular vesicle (EV)-derived microRNAs (miRNAs), is vital for comprehending their response to COVID-19 vaccination. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate specific EV-miRNAs in the plasma of cancer patients under active treatment who received the COVID-19 booster vaccine. The selected miRNAs (EV-hsa-miR-7-5p, EV-hsa-miR-15b-5p, EV-hsa-miR-24-3p, EV-hsa-miR-145- 5p, and EV-hsa-miR-223-3p) are involved in regulating SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and cytokine release, making them potential biomarkers for vaccination response. The study involved 54 cancer patients. Plasma and serum samples were collected at pre-boost vaccination, and at 3 and 6 months post-boost vaccination. Anti-spike antibody levels were measured. Additionally, RNA was extracted from EVs isolated from plasma and the expression levels of miRNAs were assessed. The results showed a significantly positive antibody response after COVID-19 boost vaccination. The expression levels of EV-hsa-miR-7-5p, EV-hsa-miR-15b-5p, EV-hsa-miR-24-3p, and EV-hsa-miR-223-3p increased significantly after 6 months of COVID-19 booster vaccination. Interestingly, an increased expression of certain EV-hsa-miRNAs was positively correlated. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that these correlated miRNAs play a critical role in regulating the targets present in antiviral responses and cytokine production. These findings suggest that EV-hsa-miR-15b-5p, EV-hsa-miR-24-3p, and EV-hsa-miR-223-3p may be crucial in immune response induced by mRNA vaccines.
癌症患者易患重症 COVID-19，因其疾病和治疗而面临免疫挑战。识别生物标志物，尤其是细胞外囊泡（EV）衍生的微小RNA（miRNA），对于理解他们对 COVID-19 疫苗接种的反应至关重要。因此，本研究旨在调查接受 COVID-19 加强疫苗接种的正在接受积极治疗的癌症患者血浆中的特定 EV-miRNA。所选的miRNA（EV-hsa-miR-7-5p、EV-hsa-miR-15b-5p、EV-hsa-miR-24-3p、EV-hsa-miR-145-5p和EV-hsa-miR-223-3p）参与调节严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）刺突蛋白和细胞因子释放，使其成为疫苗接种反应的潜在生物标志物。该研究纳入了54名癌症患者。在加强疫苗接种前、加强疫苗接种后3个月和6个月采集血浆和血清样本。测量抗刺突抗体水平。此外，从血浆中分离的EV中提取RNA，并评估miRNA的表达水平。结果显示，COVID-19加强疫苗接种后抗体反应呈显著阳性。COVID-19加强疫苗接种6个月后，EV-hsa-miR-7-5p、EV-hsa-miR-15b-5p、EV-hsa-miR-24-3p和EV-hsa-miR-223-3p的表达水平显著升高。有趣的是，某些EV-hsa-miRNA的表达增加呈正相关。生物信息学分析表明，这些相关的miRNA在调节抗病毒反应和细胞因子产生中的靶标方面起关键作用。这些发现表明，EV-hsa-miR-15b-5p、EV-hsa-miR-24-3p和EV-hsa-miR-223-3p可能在mRNA疫苗诱导的免疫反应中起关键作用。
