Multidimensional information detection of liver cancer cell exosomes treated with Shikonin

Abstract

Exosomes were recently recognized with growing attention as mediators of intercellular communication and as potential biomarkers associated with cancer.However, the multidimensional characterization of exosomes secreted by cancer cells after drug treatment has remained largely unexplored. In this study, the morphological and mechanical differences, including SMMC-7721-exos, HepG2-exos, and HL-7702exos, were comparatively detected on the both air and liquid conditions, respectively, and the effects of Shikonin on the morphology and nanomechanical properties of SMMC-7721-exos were further detected. Exosomes were characterized by SEM, NTA, and WB, respectively. AFM was then employed to compare the morphology, adhesion force, and Young's modulus of SMMC-7721-exos, HepG2-exos, and HL-7702-exos under air and liquid conditions. Compared with those detected on the air condition, the adhesion forces of SMMC-7721-exos, HepG2-exos, and HL-7702-exos were increased on the liquid condition, whereas the Young's modulus of HL-7702-exos was approximately 1.7-fold higher. Subsequently, the morphology and mechanical properties of exosomes secreted by cancer cells after Shikonin treatment were detected by AFM. Compared with the untreated group, the adhesion force of SMMC-7721-exos was reduced after drug treatment. In contrast, both the adhesion force and Young's modulus of SMMC-7721-exos exhibited an increasing trend with increasing Shikonin concentration (0.5 μM, 1 μM, and 2 μM). These results indicated that Shikonin altered the mechanical properties of exosomes by acting on cancer cells, potentially disrupting exosome-mediated intercellular interactions. This effect was considered to contribute 3 to elucidating the antitumor mechanism of Shikonin, and novel insights were provided for the study of tumor metastasis and prognosis.