Detection of extracellular vesicles in plasma and urine of prostate cancer patients by flow cytometry and surface plasmon resonance imaging

PLoS One. 2020 Jun 4;15(6):e0233443. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233443. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Large (> 1 μm) tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (tdEVs) enriched from the cell fraction of centrifuged whole blood are prognostic in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients. However, the highest concentration of tdEVs is expected in the cell-free plasma fraction. In this pilot study, we determine whether mCRPC patients can be discriminated from healthy controls based on detection of tdEVs (< 1μm, EpCAM+) and/or other EVs, in cell-free plasma and/or urine. The presence of marker+ EVs in plasma and urine samples from mCRPC patients (n = 5) and healthy controls (n = 5) was determined by flow cytometry (FCM) and surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi) using an antibody panel and lactadherin. For FCM, the concentrations of marker positive (+) particles and EVs (refractive index <1.42) were determined. Only the lactadherin+ particle and EV concentration in plasma measured by FCM differed significantly between patients and controls (p = 0.017). All other markers did not result in signals exceeding the background on both FCM and SPRi, or did not differ significantly between patients and controls. In conclusion, no difference was found between patients and controls based on the detection of tdEVs. For FCM, the measured sample volumes are too small to detect tdEVs. For SPRi, the concentration of tdEVs is probably too low to be detected. Thus, to detect tdEVs in cell-free plasma and/or urine, EV enrichment and/or concentration is required. Furthermore, we recommend testing other markers and/or a combination of markers to discriminate mCRPC patients from healthy controls.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / blood
  • Adenocarcinoma / secondary*
  • Adenocarcinoma / urine
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antigens, Surface / blood
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Culture Media, Conditioned
  • Extracellular Vesicles / chemistry
  • Extracellular Vesicles / metabolism*
  • Flow Cytometry / methods*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Milk Proteins / blood
  • Neoplasm Proteins / blood
  • Neoplasm Proteins / urine
  • Pilot Projects
  • Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant / blood*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant / pathology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant / urine*
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / methods*

Substances

  • Antigens, Surface
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Culture Media, Conditioned
  • MFGE8 protein, human
  • Milk Proteins
  • Neoplasm Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research – Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences (NWO-TTW), under research programs Perspectief CANCER-ID 14198 (LR), Perspectief CANCER-ID 14195 (LdR), and VENI 13681 (FC). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.