Epilepsy is the fourth most prevalent brain disorder affecting millions of people of all ages. Epilepsy is divided into six categories different in etiology and molecular mechanisms; however, their common denominator is the inability to maintain ionic homeostasis. Antiepileptic drugs have a broad spectrum of action and high toxicity to the whole organism. In many cases, they could not penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and reach corresponding targets. Nucleic acid aptamers are a new and promising class of antiepileptic drugs as they are non-toxic, specific, and able to regulate the permeability of ion channels or inhibit inflammatory proteins. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms of epileptogenesis and its interconnection with the BBB and show the potential of aptamers for antiepileptic treatment.

Membrane-derived extracellular vesicles, referred to as microvesicles (MVs), have been proposed to participate in several cancer diseases. In this study, MV fractions were isolated by differential ultracentrifugation from a metastatic breast cancer (BC) cell line MDA-MB-231 and a non-cancerous breast cell line MCF10A, then analyzed by nano-liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 1519 MV proteins were identified from both cell lines. The data obtained were compared to previously analyzed proteins from small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), revealing 1272 proteins present in both MVs and sEVs derived from the MDA-MB-231 cell line. Among the 89 proteins unique to MDA-MB-231 MVs, three enzymes: ornithine aminotransferase (OAT), transaldolase (TALDO1) and bleomycin hydrolase (BLMH) were previously proposed as cancer therapy targets. These proteins were enzymatically validated in cells, sEVs, and MVs derived from both cell lines. The specific activity of OAT and TALDO1 was significantly higher in MDA-MB-231-derived MVs than in MCF10A MVs. BLMH was highly expressed in MDA-MB-231-derived MVs, compared to MCF10A MVs. This study shows that MVs carry functional metabolic enzymes and provides a framework for future studies of their biological role in BC and potential in therapeutic applications.

Small membrane-derived extracellular vesicles have been proposed as participating in several cancer diseases, including breast cancer (BC). We performed a phosphoproteomic analysis of breast cancer-derived small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) to provide insight into the molecular and cellular regulatory mechanisms important for breast cancer tumor progression and metastasis. We examined three cell line models for breast cancer: MCF10A (non-malignant), MCF7 (estrogen and progesterone receptor-positive, metastatic), and MDA-MB-231 (triple-negative, highly metastatic). To obtain a comprehensive overview of the sEV phosphoproteome derived from each cell line, effective phosphopeptide enrichment techniques IMAC and TiO2, followed by LC-MS/MS, were performed. The phosphoproteome was profiled to a depth of 2003 phosphopeptides, of which 207, 854, and 1335 were identified in MCF10A, MCF7, and MDA-MB-231 cell lines, respectively. Furthermore, 2450 phosphorylation sites were mapped to 855 distinct proteins, covering a wide range of functions. The identified proteins are associated with several diseases, mostly related to cancer. Among the phosphoproteins, we validated four enzymes associated with cancer and present only in sEVs isolated from MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines: ATP citrate lyase (ACLY), phosphofructokinase-M (PFKM), sirtuin-1 (SIRT1), and sirtuin-6 (SIRT6). With the exception of PFKM, the specific activity of these enzymes was significantly higher in MDA-MB-231 when compared with MCF10A-derived sEVs. This study demonstrates that sEVs contain functional metabolic enzymes that could be further explored for their potential use in early BC diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

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The aim of the research. To examine the proteomic profi le of breast cancer exosomes. Material and methods. Cell lines used for this study were MDA-MB-231 female epithelial breast cancer cells (ATCC HTB-26) and MCF10A non-tumorigenic epithelial breast tissue cells. MVs were isolated using diff erential ultracentrifugation. Samples were lysed, reduced, alkylated, digested, and analyzed by an Orbitrap Fusion mass spectrometer. MS raw fi les were analyzed using MaxQuant version 1.6.12.0. Peptides were searched against the human UniProt FASTA database using the Andromeda search engine, integrated into MaxQuant. Results. MVs derived from MCF10A and MDA-MB-231 cell lines were analyzed, and 1427 and 547 proteins were identifi ed in the MDA-MB-231 and MCF10A-derived MVs, respectively. In total, 455 proteins were common to both MDA-MB-231 and MCF10A MVs. MVs derived from MCF10A and MDAMB-231 cell lines were analyzed, and 1427 and 547 proteins were identifi ed in the MDA-MB-231 and MCF10A-derived MVs, respectively. In total, 455 proteins were common to both MDA-MB-231 and MCF10A MVs. Th e unique MDA-MB-231 MV proteins were searched against the DisGeNET human diseases database. Out of 972 MDA-MB-231 MV proteins, 112 were cancer-related while 32 were specifi cally associated with BC. In the MDA-MB-231 MV proteome, 23 Wnt signaling pathway proteins were identifi ed based on their GO biological process. Proteomic analysis identifi ed enzymes OAT, TALDO1, and BLMH were only in MVs from metastatic MDA-MB-231 cell line. The specific activity of OAT and TALDO1 was higher in MV fractions of MDA-MB-231 in comparison to the non-cancerous MCF10A cell line-derived MVs. Th ese fi ndings might suggest that these enzymes might play a role in BC. In our present study, we found that some enzymes identifi ed from MV fractions were already proposed to play a role in cancer therapy as therapeutic targets (OAT, TALDO1) and resistance against chemotherapy agents (BLMH).