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Updated: Jul 1, 2025
Isolation and Profiling of MicroRNA-containing Exosomes from Human Bile
Published on: June 13, 2016
Metabolomics and miRNA profiling reveals feature of gallbladder cancer-derived biliary extracellular vesicles
Mingyu Kong1, Da Hee Hong2, Sanjita Paudel3
1Center for Advanced Biomolecular Recognition, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 130-701, Republic of Korea.
Background:
Although there are several studies in the development of various human cancers, the role of exosomes is poorly understood in the progression of gallbladder cancer. This study aims to characterize the metabolic changes occurring in exosomes obtained from patients with gallbladder cancer compared with those from other gallbladder disease groups.
Methods:
Biliary exosomes were isolated from healthy donors (n = 3) and from patients with gallbladder cancer (n = 3), gallbladder polyps (n = 4), or cholecystitis (n = 3) using a validated exosome isolation kit. Afterward, we performed miRNA profiling and untargeted metabolomic analysis of the exosomes. The results were validated by integrating the results of the miRNA and metabolomic analyses.
Results:
The gallbladder cancer group exhibited a significant reduction in the levels of multiple unsaturated phosphatidylethanolamines and phosphatidylcholines compared to the normal group, which resulted in the loss of exosome membrane integrity. Additionally, the gallbladder cancer group demonstrated significant overexpression of miR-181c and palmitic acid, and decreased levels of conjugated deoxycholic acid, all of which are strongly associated with the activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway.
Conclusions:
Our findings demonstrate that the contents of exosomes are disease-specific, particularly in gallbladder cancer, and that altered metabolites convey critical information regarding their phenotype. We believe that our metabolomic and miRNA profiling results may provide important insights into the development of gallbladder cancer.
