Detection of human telomerase reverse transcriptase messenger RNA in urine of high risk patients as a non invasive molecular diagnostic tool for urinary bladder cancer in Egyptians

Introduction and Objectives: Bladder cancer is an important national healthproblem as it is the leading cancer in men in Egypt. Cystoscopy and biopsy, currently remains the gold standard procedure for diagnosis, yet, it is invasive and costly. Urinary cytopathology remains to be the only non-invasive alternative method for diagnosis. Although it is tumour specifi c, yet it has a poor sensitivity, especially for low grade tumours. Detection of Telomerase enzyme in exfoliated urinary cells is a potentially good molecular diagnostic marker in bladder cancer, since the catalytic subunit of this enzyme (hTERT) proved to be essential for cellular immortality and oncogenesis.Subjects and Methods: The study comprised 39 patients (36 with urothelialcarcinomas and 3 cases were squamous cell carcinoma) with bladder cancerand 22 non cancer control (including 14 patients with benign urological disorders and 8 healthy volunteers). The urine sample was split into two aliquots one was used to undertake RNA extraction and hTERT/GAPDH RT-PCR semiquantitative assay and the second for cytological examination. Cystoscopy was considered the reference standard for the identifi cation of bladder cancer.Results: The hTERT/GAPDH RT-PCR test showed signifi cantly higher diagnostic sensitivity than cytology (84% Vs. 75%

Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year-on-year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non-vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional studies. To address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) updates its 'Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles', which was first published in 2014 and then in 2018 as MISEV2014 and MISEV2018, respectively. The goal of the current document, MISEV2023, is to provide researchers with an updated snapshot of available approaches and their advantages and limitations for production, separation and characterisation of EVs from multiple sources, including cell culture, body fluids and solid tissues. In addition to presenting the latest state of the art in basic principles of EV research, this document also covers advanced techniques and approaches that are currently expanding the boundaries of the field. MISEV2023 also includes new sections on EV release and uptake and a brief discussion of in vivo approaches to study EVs. Compiling feedback from ISEV expert task forces and more than 1000 researchers, this document conveys the current state of EV research to facilitate robust scientific discoveries and move the field forward even more rapidly