Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
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<jats:title>INTRODUCTION</jats:title>
<jats:p>Extracellular vesicles (EVs) carry biological information from their cell of origin that is useful for non-invasive detection of tumor biomarkers and disease monitoring. In glioblastoma (GBM), blood circulating EVs are elevated and carry GBM-associated proteins. However, it is still challenging to analyze tumor derived EVs for translational purposes. Here, we used imaging flow cytometry (IFCM) as a robust strategy to perform phenotyping of EVs with GBM related surface markers in human plasma.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>METHODS</jats:title>
<jats:p>EVs were isolated via differential ultracentrifugation from plasma of (a) 40 GBM patients, pre- and post-surgery, (b) 11matched GBM relapses and (c) 12 healthy donors (HD). EV sizes and concentrations were evaluated by NTA. EV markers (CD9,CD63 and CD81) together with glioma-related markers (integrin beta-1 [ITGB1], tenascin C [TNC], Profilin-1 [PFN1], CD44,GPNMB, SPARC, HLA-II or CD133) were analyzed by IFCM. EV percentages and objects/mL plasma were compared among the groups and correlated with clinical parameters.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>RESULTS</jats:title>
<jats:p>CD9 was the predominant tetraspanin in all groups (15-96%), while CD63 had the lowest levels (0-33%) and the strongestdecrease in GBM patients after surgery (fold change [FC]=-5.4, p&lt;0.01). Among the glioma-related markers, ITGB1 and TNC displayed the most significant differences between the analyzed groups, especially the double positives ITGB1+/CD63+and TNC+/CD63+, which decreased in patients after tumor removal (FC=-3.5 and -12, respectively; p&lt;0.001). Meanwhile,ITGB1+/CD9+and TNC+/CD9+EVs exhibited the highest levels in GBM when compared to HD subjects (FC=8.6 and 17.4;p&lt;0.001) and upon tumor recurrence (FC=3.7 and 10.9, respectively; p&lt;0.01).</jats:p>
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<jats:title>SUMMARY/CONCLUSION</jats:title>
<jats:p>We identified EV surface antigens with potential clinical utility as GBM biomarkers. Among them, we highlight ITGB1 and TNC as the most promising markers.</jats:p>
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