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Updated: May 12, 2026

Patient Derived Cell Culture and Isolation of CD133+ Putative Cancer Stem Cells from Melanoma
Published on: March 13, 2013
Protocol for Testing Human Melanoma Exosomes that Shift the Healthy Phenotype of Human Dermal Cells
Özge Sezin Somuncu1,2,3, Pakize Neslihan Taşli4, Fikrettin Şahin4
1Department of Biotechnology, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey. ozges_somuncu@dfci.harvard.edu.
None:
Exosomes are small membrane-derived vesicles that transmit DNA constituents, mRNAs, microRNAs, and proteins from donor cells to a receiver cell. Various cells comprising of mesenchymal, immune, and cancer cells discharge exosomes. Cancer cell exosomes form the entry and reprogramming of essentials connected to a tumor environment. Melanoma-derived exosomes transport diverse proteins such as c-MET and RAB27a, which leave a melanoma mark. Increased mesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) expressions in serum exosomes have been considered an indicator of disease progression. Meanwhile, RAB27a has been identified as being involved in exosome discharge and trafficking. Decreased expressions of RAB27a in human melanoma cells have shown to diminish exosome release.We examined the effects of the downregulation and upregulation of RAB27a and c-MET in human dermal fibroblasts by utilizing the isolated exosomes of malignant melanoma cell lines. Melanoma exosomes derived from cancer cells conveyed information to healthy dermal fibroblasts and stem cells while inducing phenotypic change. In this chapter, we show optimized protocols that were used by our group for in vitro analysis with melanoma exosomes.
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