Exosomes are small vesicles of 30-100 nm in size, which are secreted by multiple cell types and mediate intercellular communication. Exosomes are robustly produced by cancer cells, are implicated in cancer progression and metastasis and considered as superior biomarkers for tumor prognosis and therapeutic responses. Currently, little is known about the mechanisms that regulate their production and content. Current projects are focused on:
- Exosome as biomarkers: we use clinical samples of breast cancer patients and profile the protein content of their plasma exosomes. We profile prominent signal transduction pathways and monitor changes before and after surgery or chemotherapeutic treatment. We use advanced bioinformatics tools to assess the results.
- Exosome biogenesis and content: we use TNBC cell lines of different molecular subtypes and investigate the mechanisms that regulate exosomes production and content using perturbations experiments, electron microscopy analysis, RPPA and Mass Spectrometry analysis.