Department of Pathological Physiology

Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University

EV projects leader: Jan Balvan
website: https://www2.med.muni.cz/masariklab/
email: jan.balvan@med.muni.cz

Extracellular vesicles in the crosstalk between cancer cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts in head and neck cancer.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the most common type of solid cancer affecting the head and neck area. Many studies have shown that HNSCC-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) are important in regulating biological processes, including response to anticancer therapy. Tumor-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are an important component of the tumor microenvironment. CAFs are involved in many aspects of cancer progression and contribute significantly to therapy resistance. Similar to apoptotic cells, the major type of EVs released by HNSCC and CAFs display phosphatidylserine (PS) on their outer membrane layer.

Our research focuses on changes in the protein and RNA content of PS+EVs isolated from CAFs and HNSCC cells under normal and stress conditions (e.g. lysosomal dysfunction, starvation). We are also investigating the impact of these EVs on the biological response of recipient cells, such as migration or sensitivity to cell death, during the crosstalk between HNSCC and CAFs. Our work aims to better understand the role of PS+EVs in intercellular communication in the HNSCC microenvironment and to find potential biomarkers indicative of the processes occurring in the tumor progression.