Non-canonical small noncoding RNAs in the plasma extracellular vesicles as novel biomarkers in gastric cancer
Ping Yang, Zhibo Li, Xi Chen, Chiyuan Ma, Yiyuan Han, Xiaoshan Zhang, Xiaodong Wei, Yueyue Lei, Tonghui Ma, Fangfang Jin
Abstract
Identifying robust diagnostic biomarkers for gastric cancer (GC) remains a significant challenge. Emerging studies highlight extracellular vesicle (EV)-derived RNAs in cancer biology, but the diagnostic potential of circulating EV-derived small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) in GC is poorly understood. Using panoramic RNA display by overcoming RNA modification aborted sequencing (PANDORA-seq), we mapped non-canonical sncRNAs-specifically ribosomal RNA-derived small RNAs (rsRNAs) and transfer RNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs)-in plasma EVs. We identified a three-rs/tsRNA signature that discriminates GC patients from healthy individuals with high sensitivity (80.42%) and specificity (87.43%) (143 GC vs 167 controls). For early-stage GC (stage I), sensitivity and specificity were 81.97% and 81.44%, respectively. Furthermore, the three-rs/tsRNA signature was evaluated in two independent cohorts, resulting in AUC values of 0.97 and 0.91 for distinguishing GC from healthy controls. Functional analyses revealed that these rs/tsRNAs regulate the ErbB/Hippo pathways, suggesting them in the underlying pathogenesis and therapeutic potential. This study establishes a novel EV-derived sncRNA signature for early GC detection.