Date of Graduation
5-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Biomedical Engineering
Advisor/Mentor
Song, Young Hye
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest diseases because it is hard to identify in its early stages, has high chemoresistance, and early metastasis. Because of these traits, it is often associated with perineural invasion (PNI), where the cancer travels to the nervous system. Schwann cells (SC) are associated with both metastasis and PNI when activated. The purpose of this study was to determine if and how pancreatic tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (TEVs) can activate SC in PNI. This experiment was performed by embedding Schwann cells in a hydrogel to model the tumor microenvironment and treating them with isolated extracellular vesicles (EVs) from pancreatic cancer and normal pancreatic cells. SC activation was determined using immunofluorescence staining. Four targeted EV cargos were investigated: tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF��), interleukin 1 beta (IL1��), interleukin 6 (IL6), and interleukin 8 (IL8), and it was discovered that IL8 was upregulated in the TEVs. SC-TEV co-cultures showed an increase in SC activation, and IL8 inhibition reduced the activation. This indicates that pancreatic TEV IL8 contributes to SC activation and potentially PNI.
Keywords
Cell Culture, extracellular vesicles, pancreatic cancer, schwann cells
Citation
Powers, I. (2023). Investigating the Effect of Pancreatic Cancer Tumor-Derived Extracellular Vesicles on Schwann Cell Activation. Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/bmeguht/133