Scientific Advisor & Co-Founder of Craif Inc. (Location: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Ryuichi Onose, hereinafter referred to as “Craif”) , Takao Yasui and Dr. Akira Yokoi, Lecturer, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Hospital, as principal investigators, have jointly published their research on “Spatial Exosome Analysis Using Cellulose Nanofiber Sheets” in the scientific journal Nature Communications on November 8, 2023. 

In this research project, “EV sheets” were developed to capture and preserve extracellular vesicles (EVs) including exosomes from a very small amount of body fluid. By attaching the EV sheet to a wet organ, EVs were successfully collected from a small amount of ascites fluid and subjected to small RNA analysis. When EV sheets were used in a mouse model of ovarian cancer, it was demonstrated that cancer-associated miRNAs could be detected at a very early stage of cancer when there was no obvious ascites in the mice, and that EVs from different sites had unique miRNA profiles. It was found that applying the spatial exosome analysis technique using EV sheets to each tissue could provide information on the localization of cancer and the presence of intraperitoneal metastases, etc., even in ovarian cancer patients. EV sheets enable detailed analysis of ascites EVs from cancer patients at different organ locations, which can be used for more precise cancer EV sheet is expected to contribute to more precise cancer diagnosis, staging, and treatment planning.

Publication information
Journal name: Nature Communications
Title of paper: Spatial exosome analysis using cellulose nanofiber sheets reveals the location heterogeneity of extracellular vesicles
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42593-9