Expression of small heat shock proteins in exosomes from patients with gynecologic cancers

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 9817 - 9
• Main Authors: Wyciszkiewicz, Aleksandra, Kalinowska-Łyszczarz, Alicja, Nowakowski, Błażej, Kaźmierczak, Kamila, Osztynowicz, Krystyna, Michalak, Sławomir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08.07.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/67/1517/1709; 692/4028/67/1517/1931; 82/51; Adult; Ascitic Fluid - metabolism; Cytotoxicity; Endometrial cancer; Endometrial Neoplasms - metabolism; Endometriosis; Endometriosis - metabolism; Endometrium; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Exosomes; Exosomes - metabolism; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Granzymes - metabolism; Heat shock proteins; Heat-Shock Proteins, Small - metabolism; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immune response; multidisciplinary; Ovarian cancer; Ovarian Neoplasms - metabolism; Peritoneal fluid; Peritoneum; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Small heat shock proteins; Up-Regulation
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-46221-9

Small Heat shock proteins (sHsp) are a group of chaperone proteins. Under conditions of stress, the expression of sHsp is increased. Therefore, they are implicated in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune-mediated disorders and cancer. The purpose of this study was to analyze sHsp expression in exosomes from patients with gynecologic cancers and correlate these results with markers of cytotoxic immune response. The study group included patients with ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, and patients with endometriosis. The levels of sHsps and cytotoxic markers were analyzed in serum, peritoneal fluid and exosomes using ELISA method. We found the highest levels of sHsp in exosomes from patients with ovarian cancer, but they were also elevated in patients with endometrial cancer and endometriosis. Moreover, we identified the presence of small Hsps in serum and peritoneal fluid in all study groups, but again the highest level was in patients with ovarian cancer. Small Hsps expression levels were positively correlated with markers of cytotoxic immune response.