Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), playing a crucial role in the intercellular communication in physiological as well as pathological processes. Here, we aimed to study whether the melanoma-derived sEV-mediated communication could adapt to microenvironmental stresses. We compared B16F1 cell-derived sEVs released under normal and stress conditions, including cytostatic, heat and oxidative stress. The miRNome and proteome showed substantial differences across the sEV groups and bioinformatics analysis of the obtained data by the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis also revealed significant functional differences. The in silico predicted functional alterations of sEVs were validated by in vitro assays. For instance, melanoma-derived sEVs elicited by oxidative stress increased Ki-67 expression of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs); cytostatic stress-resulted sEVs facilitated melanoma cell migration; all sEV groups supported microtissue generation of MSC-B16F1 co-cultures in a 3D tumour matrix model. Based on this study, we concluded that (i) molecular patterns of tumour-derived sEVs, dictated by the microenvironmental conditions, resulted in specific response patterns in the recipient cells; (ii) in silico analyses could be useful tools to predict different stress responses; (iii) alteration of the sEV-mediated communication of tumour cells might be a therapy-induced host response, with a potential influence on treatment efficacy.

Our results suggest that the intercellular communication between tumor cells and surrounding stroma cells can be altered by microenvironment which increased quantity of exosomes and diversity of miRNAs in this study. Imbalance of oncogenic and tumor suppressor miRNAs caused by cytostatic treatments may influence the antiproliferative and metastasis inhibitory effect of cytostatic agents.

Recently, it has been described that programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) overexpressing melanoma cells are highly aggressive. However, until now it has not been defined which factors lead to the generation of PD-1 overexpressing subpopulations. Here, we present that melanoma-derived exosomes, conveying oncogenic molecular reprogramming, induce the formation of a melanoma-like, PD-1 overexpressing cell population (mMSCPD-1+) from naïve mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Exosomes and mMSCPD-1+ cells induce tumor progression and expression of oncogenic factors in vivo. Finally, we revealed a characteristic, tumorigenic signaling network combining the upregulated molecules (e.g., PD-1, MET, RAF1, BCL2, MTOR) and their upstream exosomal regulating proteins and miRNAs. Our study highlights the complexity of exosomal communication during tumor progression and contributes to the detailed understanding of metastatic processes.

In Rhizobium-legume symbiosis, the bacteria are converted into nitrogen-fixing bacteroids. In many legume species, differentiation of the endosymbiotic bacteria is irreversible, culminating in definitive loss of their cell division ability. This terminal differentiation is mediated by plant peptides produced in the symbiotic cells. In Medicago truncatula more than ∼700 nodule-specific cysteine-rich (NCR) peptides are involved in this process. We have shown previously that NCR247 and NCR335 have strong antimicrobial activity on various pathogenic bacteria and identified interaction of NCR247 with many bacterial proteins, including FtsZ and several ribosomal proteins, which prevent bacterial cell division and protein synthesis. In this study we designed and synthetized various derivatives of NCR247, including shorter fragments and various chimeric derivatives. The antimicrobial activity of these peptides was tested on the ESKAPE bacteria; Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli as a member of Enterobacteriaceae and in addition Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica. The 12 amino acid long C-terminal half of NCR247, NCR247C partially retained the antimicrobial activity and preserved the multitarget interactions with partners of NCR247. Nevertheless NCR247C became ineffective on S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and L. monocytogenes. The chimeric derivatives obtained by fusion of NCR247C with other peptide fragments and particularly with a truncated mastoparan sequence significantly increased bactericidal activity and altered the antimicrobial spectrum. The minimal bactericidal concentration of the most potent derivatives was 1.6 µM, which is remarkably lower than that of most classical antibiotics. The killing activity of the NCR247-based chimeric peptides was practically instant. Importantly, these peptides had no hemolytic activity or cytotoxicity on human cells. The properties of these NCR derivatives make them promising antimicrobials for clinical use.

The necessity for diagnosis and treatment of this infection is emphasized by the high number of complications and death rate.

Liquid biopsy-based methods to test biomarkers (e.g., serum proteins and extracellular vesicles) may help to monitor brain tumors. In this proteomics-based study, we aimed to identify a characteristic protein fingerprint associated with central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Overall, 96 human serum samples were obtained from four patient groups, namely glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), non-small-cell lung cancer brain metastasis (BM), meningioma (M) and lumbar disc hernia patients (CTRL). After the isolation and characterization of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), liquid chromatography -mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was performed on two different sample types (whole serum and serum sEVs). Statistical analyses (ratio, Cohen’s d, receiver operating characteristic; ROC) were carried out to compare patient groups. To recognize differences between the two sample types, pairwise comparisons (Welch’s test) and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) were performed. According to our knowledge, this is the first study that compares the proteome of whole serum and serum-derived sEVs. From the 311 proteins identified, 10 whole serum proteins and 17 sEV proteins showed the highest intergroup differences. Sixty-five proteins were significantly enriched in sEV samples, while 129 proteins were significantly depleted compared to whole serum. Based on principal component analysis (PCA) analyses, sEVs are more suitable to discriminate between the patient groups. Our results support that sEVs have greater potential to monitor CNS tumors, than whole serum.

Metabolomic reprogramming in tumor and stroma cells is a hallmark of cancer but understanding its effects on the metabolite composition and function of tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) is still in its infancy. EVs are membrane-bound sacs with a complex molecular composition secreted by all living cells. They are key mediators of intercellular communication both in normal and pathological conditions and play a crucial role in tumor development. Although lipids are major components of EVs, most of the EV cargo studies have targeted proteins and nucleic acids. The potential of the EV metabolome as a source for biomarker discovery has gained recognition recently, but knowledge on the biological activity of tumor EV metabolites still remains limited. Therefore, we aimed (i) to compile the list of metabolites identified in tumor EVs isolated from either clinical specimens or in vitro samples and (ii) describe their role in tumor progression through literature search and pathway analysis.

These results show that 2MIX is effective in reducing H. pylori colonization suggesting that this essential oil mixture has great potential as a new, effective, and safe therapeutic agent against H. pylori.