Abstract

Small Extracellular Vesicles Modulated by the alphaVbeta3 Integrin Reprogram Recipient Prostate Cancer Cells Towards an Aggressive Neuroendocrine Phenotype

Christopher Shields, Research Assistant, Thomas Jefferson University

Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPrCa) is a highly aggressive subtype of prostate cancer (PrCa) that can arise as a result of androgen deprivation therapies or it may arise de novo. The alphaVbeta3 integrin is shown to be upregulated in NEPrCa primary tumor samples and treatment of PrCa cells with small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) containing alphaVbeta3 has been observed to play role in tumor formation, proliferation, and survival in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, upon treatment with alphaVbeta3 vesicles, neuroendocrine differentiation is observed, implying a functional role of sEV integrins in reprogramming of recipient cells.