Science Spotlight: Extracellular vesicle-based cancer detection and HIV suppression

A team from Nanjing University identified phosphatidylserine as a tumor-specific extracellular vesicle marker that is sensitive to disease state and apoptosis levels, which could provide a clinically actionable, noninvasive biomarker for cancer detection and monitoring.

Phosphatidylserine is a negatively charged phospholipid that is located on the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane in healthy cells. During apoptosis, it translocates to the outer leaflet, acting as an “eat me” signal for phagocytic clearance. Tumors undergo high rates of apoptosis and cellular turnover, leading to increased release of phosphatidylserine-positive extracellular vesicles into the circulation...