Small extracellular vesicle-derived circular RNA hsa_circ_0007386 as a biomarker for the diagnosis of Pleural Mesothelioma

Abstract Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is a highly aggressive tumor that is caused by asbestos exposure and lacks effective therapeutic regimens. Current procedures for PM diagnosis are invasive and can take a long time to reach a definitive result. Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) have been identified as important communicators between tumour cells and their microenvironment via their cargo including circular RNAs (circRNAs). CircRNAs are thermodynamically stable, highly conserved and it has been found to be dysregulated in cancer. This study aimed to identify potential biomarker for PM diagnosis by investigating the expression of specific circRNA gene pattern (hsa_circ_0007386) in cells and sEVs using digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR). For this reason, 5 PM, 14 non-PM, and one normal mesothelial cell line were cultured. The sEV were isolated from the cells using the gold standard ultracentrifuge method. The RNA was extracted from both cells and sEVs, cDNA was synthesised, and dPCR was run. Results showed that hsa_circ_0007386 was significantly overexpressed in PM cell lines and sEVs compared to non-PM and normal mesothelial cell lines (p<0.0001). The upregulation of hsa_circ_0007386 in PM highlights its potential as a diagnostic biomarker. This study underscores the importance and potential of circRNAs and sEVs as cancer diagnostic tools.