EFFECTS OF BREAST CANCER CELL-DERIVED EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES ON ENDOTHELIAL CELLS AND ANGIOGENESIS
by Chien-Yu Huang
Category: STEM
Abstract – The severity of breast cancer is greatly increased once cancer cells undergo metastasis and spread throughout the body. Interactions between our body’s endothelial cells (EC) and extracellular vesicles (EV) excreted from breast cancer cells are thought to induce metastasis— endothelial cells are responsible for angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, and create new pathways for cancer cells to spread. In this investigation, the effects of breast cancer cell derived EV on EC are observed through changes in the angiogenic ability of EC. Angiogenic ability before and after successful EV to EC incorporation was observed in in vitro environments. Results displayed that EV influenced EC activity to enhance cancer metastasis. With added EV, EC angiogenesis ability intensified to form larger networks of tubes formation in in vitro environments. Therefore, breast cancer cell EV play a role in the escalation of cancer metastasis via angiogenesis and EC — the prevention or restriction of breast cancer would lie heavily in further understanding of EV.