The scientists reached their conclusions after studying two tumor lineages, one from the tongue and the other from the hypopharynx, which is at the bottom of the throat, between the mouth and the esophagus. To find out more about how extracellular vesicles help fight off cancer, they extracted them from the two tumor lineages and examined how they interact with dendritic cells, which play an important role in the immune system by expressing receptors that recognize disease-causing molecules and producing cytokines to destroy them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a range of microscopy techniques, the group confirmed that extracellular vesicles from the tumors are harmful to the immune system, allowing tumors to advance. One of the tests showed that vesicles collected from the tumors were incorporated by the dendritic cells, significantly reducing their viability compared to others that were not subjected to the same treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The treated cells also had a much lower migration rate, demonstrating again how vesicles from tumors can impair the functioning of cells that should be defending the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the dendritic cells exposed to the vesicles failed to mature, as shown by the altered expression of surface molecules CD14 and CD209, preventing them from performing their role in the immune system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biomarkers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The research group\u2019s next step was to study the contents of these vesicles in an effort to determine why they were damaging dendritic cells and stopping the human immune system from fighting the cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a molecular biology technique known as a microarray, the scientists looked inside the extracellular vesicles for microRNAs that might be regulating dendritic cells and stopping them from functioning properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They found 96 microRNAs in extracellular vesicles from the hypopharyngeal tumor lineage and another 68 from the tongue tumor. Of these, 31 appeared in both lineages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the objectives of the research was to ascertain whether the microRNAs circulating in the blood of patients with this form of cancer are the same as those present in the tumor. The result was that 51 microRNAs from the hypopharyngeal cancer and 24 from the tongue cancer had already been detected in the blood of the patients beforehand, indicating that some of these microRNAs could one day be used as biomarkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe aim is that in the future, we will be able to establish a defined set of microRNAs for which high levels indicate the presence of the tumor, with a high degree of certainty. This way clinical labs could use existing equipment to conduct tests and make early diagnoses, which would improve treatment,\u201d says Severino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rinaldo Wellerson Pereira, a professor on the Graduate Program in Genomic Sciences and Biotechnology at the Catholic University of Bras\u00edlia who did not participate in the research, believes the article represents an important contribution to our understanding of how tumor cells interact with the immune system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne positive element was the use of two tumor cell lines, which makes the data more robust,\u201d says Pereira. \u201cIn further studies it would be interesting for the group to collect extracellular vesicles from the blood of the patients to see if the microRNAs present within them are the same as those found in the tumor vesicles and circulating freely in the blood. They could even treat dendritic cells with them to study the effects, like they did with the tumor vesicles,\u201d he suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists from the S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9 do Rio Preto School of Medicine (FAMERP), the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP), the S\u00e3o Paulo State Cancer Institute (ICESP), and Heli\u00f3polis Hospital also collaborated in the study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scientists identify biomarkers that may indicate the presence of an aggressive and rarely diagnosed type of tumor in its early stages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"autor":[125],"temas":[],"chapeu":[203],"class_list":["post-2044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","autor-eduardo-geraque-2","chapeu-cancer-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n