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Updated: Dec 25, 2025

An Enrichment Method for Small Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Liver Cancer Tissue
Published on: February 3, 2023
Ca2+ mediates extracellular vesicle biogenesis through alternate pathways in malignancy
Jack Taylor1, Iman Azimi2, Gregory Monteith3,4,5
1Discipline of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Health, The University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
Calcium signaling regulates extracellular vesicle (EV) production, which is elevated in cancer cells. Understanding EV biogenesis mechanisms is key to targeting cancer multidrug resistance (MDR).
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Biochemistry
- Cancer Research
Background:
- Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are crucial intercellular signaling mediators.
- EV biogenesis involves calcium influx and cytoskeletal changes.
- Malignant cells produce more EVs than non-malignant cells, potentially due to calcium signaling.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of calcium signaling pathways in EV biogenesis.
- To compare EV production in malignant versus non-malignant cells.
- To explore therapeutic targets for EV-mediated multidrug resistance (MDR).
Main Methods:
- Compared EV production in MCF-7 (malignant) and hCMEC-D3 (non-malignant) cells.
- Utilized thapsigargin to deplete endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium stores.
- Employed BAPTA-AM to chelate intracellular calcium and studied store-operated calcium entry (SOCE).
Main Results:
- Malignant cells exhibited greater vesiculation than non-malignant cells.
- ER calcium store depletion significantly increased EV biogenesis in both cell types.
- Inhibition of intracellular calcium or SOCE abolished EV production.
Conclusions:
- Calcium signaling, particularly ER calcium release and SOCE, is essential for EV biogenesis.
- Differences in calcium pathways contribute to elevated EV production in cancer cells.
- Targeting EV biogenesis may offer novel strategies against cancer MDR.
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