o:33249 Exosomal Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) and Caveolin-1 as Potential Biomarkers of Prostate Cancer-Evidence from Serbian Population Egzozomalni membranski antigen specifičan za prostatu (PSMA) i kavolin-1 kao potencijalni biomarkeri karcinoma prostate-dokazi iz srpske populacije en ABSTRACT Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and caveolin-1 are membrane proteins that are overexpressed in prostate cancer (PCa) and are involved in tumor growth and increase in aggressiveness. The aim of the present study is therefore to evaluate PSMA and caveolin-1 proteins from plasma exosomes as effective liquid biopsy biomarkers for PCa. This study included 39 patients with PCa and 33 with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The shape and size of the exosomes were confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. Immunogold analysis showed that PSMA is localized to the membrane of exosomes isolated from the plasma of both groups of participants. The relative protein levels of PSMA and caveolin-1 in the plasma exosomes of PCa and BPH patients were determined by Western blot analysis. The relative level of the analyzed plasma exosomal proteins was compared between PCa and BPH patients and the relevance of the exosomal PSMA and caveoin-1 level to the clinicopathological parameters in PCa was investigated. The analysis performed showed an enrichment of exosomal PSMA in the plasma of PCa patients compared to the exosomes of men with BPH. The level of exosomal caveolin-1 in plasma was significantly higher in PCa patients with high PSA levels, clinical-stage T3 or T4 and in the group of PCa patients with aggressive PCa compared to favorable clinicopathological features or tumor aggressiveness. Plasma exosomes may serve as a suitable object for the identification of potential biomarkers for the early diagnosis and prognosis of PCa as well as carriers of therapeutic agents in precision medicine of PCa treatment. prostate cancer; exosomes; PSMA; caveolin-1 1552099 10.3390/ijms25063533 2024-03-22T08:08:04.413Z 44 yes 46 Suzana Matijašević Joković Centre for Human Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia Aleksandra Korać Centre for Electrone Microscopy, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person Sanja Kovačević Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković", National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Department of Biochemistry, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person Ana Djordjević Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković", National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Department of Biochemistry, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person Lidija Filipović Innovative Centre, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person Zorana Dobrijević University of Belgrade, Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy INEP, Serbia doktor bioloških nauka person 0000-0002-4652-7719 Miloš Brkušanin Centre for Human Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person Dušanka Savić-Pavićević Centre for Human Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person Ivan Vuković Clinic of Urology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person Milica Popović Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person Goran Brajušković Centre for Human Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person application/pdf 4001074 https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:33249 no yes 16 70 92000001 11A02 11A21 11A2101 11A19 11A1907 11A29 11A2905 11A32 11A3259 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 25 3533 MDPI 2024