Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Investigating The Potential And Pitfalls Of Ev-Encapsulated Micrornas As Circulating Biomarkers Of Breast Cancer, Brian M. Moloney, Katie E. Gilligan, Doireann P. Joyce, Clodagh P. O'Neill, Killian P. O'Brien, Sonja Khan, Claire L. Glynn, Ronan M. Waldron, Ciarán M. Maguire, Emma Holian, Erin Naughton, Mohamed Elhadi, Andrea B. Grealish, Carmel Malone, Emma Mcdermott, Peter Dockery, Thomas Ritter, Adriele Prina-Mello, Michael J. Kerin, Róisín M. Dwyer

Forensic Science Publications

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) shuttle microRNA (miRNA) throughout the circulation and are believed to represent a fingerprint of the releasing cell. We isolated and characterized serum EVs of breast tumour-bearing animals, breast cancer (BC) patients, and healthy controls. EVs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), protein quantification, western blotting, and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Absolute quantitative (AQ)-PCR was employed to analyse EV-miR-451a expression. Isolated EVs had the appropriate morphology and size. Patient sera contained significantly more EVs than did healthy controls. In tumour-bearing animals, a correlation between serum EV number and tumour burden was observed. There was no significant relationship …