Adsorption behaviors and characterization of extracellular vesicles

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K07152
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Tumor diagnostics
• Research Institution: Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research
• Principal Investigator: Matsumura Sachiko 公益財団法人がん研究会, がん研究所 蛋白創製研究部, 特任研究員 (90414052)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 細胞外小胞 / がん / 原子間力顕微鏡 / エクソソーム / ホスファチジルセリン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles secreted from various cells. Intercellular communication mediated by exosomes plays important roles in cancer, therefore, exosomes are potentially useful for tumor diagnosis and therapy. Because exosomes contain heterogeneous populations, it is necessary to distinguish exosome subtypes and understand them for their applications. We tried to develop a method to distinguish exosomes using adsorption behaviors of exosomes on substrates. During this process, we found that tumor-derived exosomes have two subtypes with differently externalized phosphatidylserine (PS). Phosphatidylserine is normally located in the inner plasma membrane but externalized on the outer membrane in tumor cells. Reportedly, tumor cells release PS-positive exosomes, which are indicated to contribute to tumor progression. Therefore, the characterization of the subtypes of PS-positive exosomes will provide useful information for developing exosome-based tumor diagnosis and therapy.

Free Research Field

ナノバイオ、生体関連化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ホスファチジルセリンは通常の細胞では細胞膜の内側に存在するが、がん細胞やがん細胞由来エクソソームでは細胞膜の外側に露出し、がんの進展への寄与が示唆されている。本研究で見出した、ホスファチジルセリンの露出率が異なる２つのエクソソームサブタイプの性質や機能を明らかにすることで、がんの生物学的理解が深まるだけでなく、エクソソームをがんの診断や治療に利用する上で役立つ情報が得られることが期待される。