Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jul 15, 2023; 15(7): 1227-1240
Published online Jul 15, 2023. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v15.i7.1227
Proteomics-based identification of proteins in tumor-derived exosomes as candidate biomarkers for colorectal cancer
Ge-Yu-Jia Zhou, Dong-Yan Zhao, Teng-Fei Yin, Qian-Qian Wang, Yuan-Chen Zhou, Shu-Kun Yao
Ge-Yu-Jia Zhou, Department of Gastroenterology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital (Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences), Beijing 100029, China
Ge-Yu-Jia Zhou, Dong-Yan Zhao, Shu-Kun Yao, Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
Teng-Fei Yin, Qian-Qian Wang, Yuan-Chen Zhou, Graduate School, Peking University China-Japan Friendship School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing 100029, China
Shu-Kun Yao, Department of Gastroenterology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China
Author contributions: Zhou GYJ designed the study, analyzed the data, and drafted the manuscript; Zhao DY and Yin TF provided guidance on experimental procedures; Wang Q and Zhou YC collected the samples and the clinical data; Yao SK supervised the study, revised the manuscript, and obtained the funding; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Key Development Plan for Precision Medicine Research, No. 2017YFC0910002.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of China-Japan Friendship Hospital (No. 2018-116-K85).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shu-Kun Yao, Doctor, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, No. 2 Yinghua East Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China. shukunyao@126.com
Received: March 26, 2023
Peer-review started: March 26, 2023
First decision: April 18, 2023
Revised: April 28, 2023
Accepted: May 25, 2023
Article in press: May 25, 2023
Published online: July 15, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy in the world and has the second highest mortality rate. Early diagnosis can improve the prognosis of patients, so the search for biomarkers for CRC diagnosis is of clinical importance. Oncology research has entered the era of omics, in which proteomics is closely linked to the pathophysiological state of the human body, providing clear epigenetic information.

Research motivation

Although many studies have focused on CRC, the means of diagnosis and treatment have not improved significantly, and the specific molecular mechanisms of CRC remain unclear. Exploring the proteomic profile of CRC and searching for potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets is essential.

Research objectives

To comprehensively characterize the exosomal proteomic profile of CRC tissue and to search for promising exosomal proteins as diagnostic biomarkers for CRC.

Research methods

Exosomes were extracted from paired CRC tissues and paracancerous tissues for data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry. Differentially expressed exosomal proteins were screened by bioinformatics analysis and validated by parallel reaction monitoring analysis. Receiver operating characteristic analysis and survival analysis were performed to detect the diagnostic ability and prognostic relevance of the candidate exosomal proteins.

Research results

The study identified 128 upregulated proteins and 155 downregulated proteins between CRC tissue exosomes and paracancerous tissue exosomes. Functional enrichment of proteins is closely associated with the extracellular matrix. The candidate exosomal proteins TRIM28, NHP2, OLFM4, TOP1, SAMP and TAGL could distinguish CRC tissues well from paracancerous tissues and are potential diagnostic biomarkers for CRC.

Research conclusions

This study provides a comprehensive exosomal proteomic characterization of CRC. The exosomal proteins TRIM28, NHP2, OLFM4, TOP1, SAMP and TAGL have the potential to be diagnostic biomarkers for CRC.

Research perspectives

Mining novel diagnostic biomarkers for CRC at the level of exosomes and proteomics to improve the detection rate of CRC.