Organic Seminar-Emily Savoy (Berkman)

Emily Savoy (Berkman Group)

Abstract: A urine-based liquid biopsy is a non-invasive approach to detect validated biomarkers for the evaluation or diagnosis of prostate cancer. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have received significant attention for their role in cell-cell communication and are currently being explored as a tool for prognostic and diagnostic management. Consequently, various exosome isolation methods, based on different principles, have been developed. The important enzyme biomarker Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen, PSMA, is a validated target for prostate cancer and is also expressed on tumor-derived exosomes. Tumor secreted exosomes could be used as an extracellular resource of PSMA and thus, as a simple and effective non-invasive approach to detect prostate cancer. By using a PSMA inhibitor magnetic isolation system, there is the potential to rapidly capture and quantify progression of prostate cancer. In this presentation, inhibitor synthesis and various exosome isolation methods will be discussed. Future work includes the nondestructive capture and characterization of tumor-derived exosomes through a variety of exosome isolation methods.