Proteomic Analysis of Circulating Extracellular Vesicles Identifies Potential Biomarkers for Lymph Node Metastasis in Oral Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Xinyu Qu,
Thomas C. N. Leung,
Sai-Ming Ngai,
Sau-Na Tsai,
Abhimanyu Thakur,
Wing-Kar Li,
Youngjin Lee,
Leanne Leung,
Tung-Him Ng,
Judy Yam,
Linlin Lan,
Eric H. L. Lau,
Eddy W. Y. Wong,
Jason Y. K. Chan,
Katie Meehan
Affiliations
Xinyu Qu
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China
Thomas C. N. Leung
State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China
Sai-Ming Ngai
State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China
Sau-Na Tsai
State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China
Abhimanyu Thakur
Department of Neuroscience, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China
Wing-Kar Li
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China
Youngjin Lee
Department of Neuroscience, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China
Leanne Leung
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China
Tung-Him Ng
Department of Pathology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, China
Judy Yam
Department of Pathology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, China
Linlin Lan
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China
Eric H. L. Lau
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China
Eddy W. Y. Wong
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China
Jason Y. K. Chan
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China
Katie Meehan
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China
Lymph node metastasis is the most reliable indicator of a poor prognosis for patients with oral tongue cancers. Currently, there are no biomarkers to predict whether a cancer will spread in the future if it has not already spread at the time of diagnosis. The aim of this study was to quantitatively profile the proteomes of extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolated from blood samples taken from patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma with and without lymph node involvement and non-cancer controls. EVs were enriched using size exclusion chromatography (SEC) from pooled plasma samples of patients with non-nodal and nodal oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) and non-cancer controls. Protein cargo was quantitatively profiled using isobaric labelling (iTRAQ) and two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography followed by tandem mass spectrometry. We identified 208 EV associated proteins and, after filtering, generated a short list of 136 proteins. Over 85% of the EV-associated proteins were associated with the GO cellular compartment term “extracellular exosome”. Comparisons between non-cancer controls and oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma with and without lymph node involvement revealed 43 unique candidate EV-associated proteins with deregulated expression patterns. The shortlisted EV associated proteins described here may be useful discriminatory biomarkers for differentiating OTSCC with and without nodal disease or non-cancer controls.
