Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, and improved non-invasive approaches to monitor tumor burden and immune dynamics are needed. Although extracellular vesicles (EVs) are increasingly explored as cancer biomarkers, how distinct EV subpopulations reflect dynamic tumor states induced by immune pressure remains insufficiently understood.
Using proteomic analyses, we identified the melanoma-associated antigens gp100 (PMEL) and GPNMB in EVs derived from B16F10 melanoma cells and incorporated them into sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) that capture total EVs while selectively detecting gp100 and GPNMB EV subpopulations. We subsequently evaluated these EV populations in murine models of anti-tumor vaccination and in plasma samples from melanoma patients.
Sypka, M. et al. · CC-BY 4.0