Abstract:
Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and early diagnosis and regular follow-up are crucial for improving patient prognosis. Cystoscopy and tissue biopsy, the gold standards for diagnosing bladder cancer, are invasive and may result in complications. Urine, as a clinical sample, offers the advantage of non-invasiveness, enabling continuous disease monitoring. Urinary components have been shown to have broad clinical value, and urinary exosomes, in particular, hold great potential for precise bladder cancer diagnosis.
Glycosylated RNA is a newly reported class of RNA modification molecules located on the surface of mammalian membranes. These RNAs are primarily small non-coding RNAs modified by N-glycans containing sialic acid or fucose, forming glycosylated RNA structures that can be recognized by lectins or immune receptors. Previous studies have reported that glycosylated RNA is closely associated with cancer progression and immune responses, influencing the activity of cancer cells and the function of immune cells. Recent evidence also suggests that glycosylated RNA can be found on extracellular vesicles and holds potential as a biomarker for liquid biopsy diagnostics.
In this study, bladder cancer was used as a model to explore the potential connection between urological cancers and glycosylated RNA. Using rolling circle amplification and proximity ligation detection strategies, the study successfully visualized glycosylated RNA and validated the method in SV-HUC-1, T24, and J82 cell lines, as well as urinary exosome samples. The results revealed that in the cell models, the higher the malignancy of the cell lines, the lower the glycosylation level. In urinary exosomes, the glycosylation levels in cancer-derived urinary exosomes were lower than those in exosomes from healthy individuals. Moreover, the glycosylated RNA signal in urinary exosomes could distinguish bladder cancer patients from healthy individuals. This study highlights the potential association between bladder cancer and glycosylated RNA.
