(160g) Monitoring Cancer Progression during Treatment Via Size-Based Sorting of Exosomes

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles containing parent cell biomarkers released from cancer cells for means of cell-to-cell communication, providing the opportunity to monitor the progression of cancer in the body. Existing exosome studies present limited information about the release profiles of exosomes from cancer cells given a variety of different conditions such as culture time, cell concentration, and the introduction of anti-cancer agents. We have used centrifugation to separate exosomes and dynamic light scattering (DLS) to quantify exosome release by analyzing cultured 4T1 cell supernatant. DLS results present an exosome peak from 30-100 nm. Efficient exosome separation was achieved with differential centrifugation. Exosome production was then evaluated against duration of culture and cell concentration, as well as in the presence of anti-cancer agents. The combined use of dynamic light scattering and differential centrifugation for exosome analysis could potentially reveal the impact of individualized cancer therapies.