Identifying a core protein signature of small extracellular vesicles derived from B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Acute paediatric leukaemia is diagnosed and monitored via bone marrow aspirate assessment of blasts as a measure of minimal residual disease. Liquid biopsies in the form of blood samples could greatly reduce the need for invasive bone marrow aspirations, but there are currently no blood markers that match the sensitivity of bone marrow diagnostics. Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) represent candidate biomarkers that may reflect the blast burden in bone marrow, and several studies have reported on the utility of EVs as biomarkers for adult haematological malignancies.

The human leukemic oncogene MLL-AF4 promotes hyperplastic growth of hematopoietic tissues in larvae.

-rearranged (-r) leukemias are among the leukemic subtypes with poorest survival, and treatment options have barely improved over the last decades. Despite increasing molecular understanding of the mechanisms behind these hematopoietic malignancies, this knowledge has had poor translation into the clinic. Here, we report a model system to explore the pathways affected in -r leukemia.

Isolation of a cytolytic subpopulation of extracellular vesicles derived from NK cells containing NKG7 and cytolytic proteins.

NK cells can broadly target and kill malignant cells release of cytolytic proteins. NK cells also release extracellular vesicles (EVs) that contain cytolytic proteins, previously shown to induce apoptosis of a variety of cancer cells and . The EVs released by NK cells are likely very heterogeneous, as vesicles can be released from the plasma membrane or from different intracellular compartments.

Comparison of characteristics and tumor targeting properties of extracellular vesicles derived from primary NK cells or NK-cell lines stimulated with IL-15 or IL-12/15/18.

NK cell-based therapies have shown promise for hematological cancer forms, but their use against solid tumors is hampered by their poor ability to infiltrate the tumor. NK cells release extracellular vesicles (EVs) containing cytolytic proteins, indicating that NK-cell derived EVs may have therapeutic potential. In this study, we compared the tumor-targeting potential of EVs derived from either primary NK cells or the NK cell lines NK-92 and KHYG-1 cultured in IL-15 alone or in combination with IL-12 and IL-18.