Circulating exosomal protein EFEMP1 and SERPINC1 as diagnostic biomarkers for epithelial ovarian cancer
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Updated: Jun 12, 2025

Detection of Exosomal Biomarker by Electric Field-induced Release and Measurement EFIRM
Published on: January 23, 2015
Shiwen Wang1, Huimin Wang2, Kangyu Wang3
1Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, PR China; Department of Pathology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, PR China.
Objectives:
Caner-derived exosomes, containing diverse nucleic acids and proteins, are being exploited in diagnostic biomarker development. This study aims to screen and identify the altered exosomal proteins between epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patient and healthy volunteers, and to evaluate their diagnostic accuracy for EOC.
Methods:
Exosomes were separate by ultracentrifugation, and then subjected to TEM, qNano, and western blot for identification. Exosomal EFEMP1 and SERPINC1 were selected by MS/MS analysis, validated by ELISA in a cohort with 163 healthy donors, 183 EOC patients and 30 patients with benign ovarian tumors.
Results:
MS/MS analyses identified a total of 207 differential exosomal proteins, including the 122 up-regulated and 85 down-regulated. Exosomal EFEMP1 and SERPINC1 were significantly upregulated in EOC patients compared with those in healthy donors as well as in the benign patients, possessing favorable diagnostic efficiency. The area under the curves (AUCs) were 0.8071, 0.8211, respectively. They also exerted rather high early diagnostic efficiency, as well as the potential to distinguish the malignant patients from the benign individuals. Besides, exosomal SERPINC1 was associated with coagulation index and LE-DVT (lower extremity deep venous thrombosis) in EOC patients.
Conclusions:
Exosomal EFEMP1 and SERPINC1 are upregulated and serve as the promising diagnostic biomarkers for EOC.

