ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Colorectal Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1619460
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Extracellular Vesicles' Role in Hematological Disorders: Pathophysiology and Therapeutic PotentialView all articles
MicroRNAs in Circulating Extracellular Vesicles as Biomarkers of Early Colorectal Cancer Captured using High Mannose N-glycanspecific Lectin from Oscillatoria Agardhii
Provisionally accepted
Sanae Nakayama1*
Miyabi Umeda1Kenya Kobayashi1Yukiko Nakano2
Kanji Hori2Tsukuru Umemura3,4Hiroshi Kurokawa1- 1ALPSALPINE Co., Ltd., Osaki, Japan
- 2Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan
- 3Department of Medical Technology and Sciences, International University of Health and Welfare, Okawa, Japan
- 4Takagi Hospital, Okawa, Fukuoka, Japan
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Introduction: Lectin (OAA), isolated from the filamentous cyanobacterium Oscillatoria agardhii, exhibits high specificity and strong binding affinity for high-mannose (HM) N-glycans. Previous studies have demonstrated that OAA captured extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from cancer cell lines. This study aimed to confirm the effectiveness of OAA in capturing HM N-glycans in blood and explore its potential in capturing circulating EVs derived from early-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) tumors.Methods: OAA1 (a recombinant OAA variant) was used to capture HM N-glycans from blood samples. The ability of OAA1 to capture circulating EVs in patients with stage I CRC was assessed. The miRNA profiles of the OAA1-captured EVs were analyzed and compared between 60 patients with stage I CRC and 60 healthy controls. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the potential of the specific miRNAs as CRC biomarkers.Results: OAA1 effectively captured HM N-glycans in the plasma. Nanoparticle and immunoblot analyses confirmed the presence of EVs in the OAA1-captured from plasma. The miRNA profile of OAA1-captured EVs exhibited characteristics of patients with CRC. Statistical analysis identified five miRNAs (miR-122-5p, miR-130a-3p, miR-146a-5p, miR-15b-5p, and miR-126) and three internal control miRNAs (miR-93-5p, miR-192-5p, and miR-502-5p) with a high potential for cancer separation (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.948; sensitivity = 0.883; specificity = 0.933).Discussion: These results suggest that circulating miRNAs in OAA1-captured EVs could serve as biomarkers for the surveillance of early stage CRC using liquid biopsy. The OAA1-immobilized column device facilitates easier and quicker inspection processes and accentuates differences in circulating miRNAs associated with the disease.OAA1-column showed potential clinical application to analyze circulating EVs and miRNAs associated with CRC, serving as a relevant liquid biopsy for early cancer detection.
Keywords: OAA, Lectin, high-mannose type N-linked glycan, Extracellular vesicle, miRNA, colorectal cancer, liquid biopsy, biomarker
Received: 01 May 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Nakayama, Umeda, Kobayashi, Nakano, Hori, Umemura and Kurokawa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sanae Nakayama, ALPSALPINE Co., Ltd., Osaki, Japan
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