Quantification of GPC1(+) Exosomes Based on MALDI-TOF MS In Situ Signal Amplification for Pancreatic Cancer Discrimination and Evaluation

Pancreatic cancer (PC) has a high mortality, with a fairly low five-year survival rate, because of its delayed diagnosis. Recently, liquid biopsy, especially based on exosomes, has attracted vast attention, thanks to its low invasiveness. Herein, we constructed a protocol for pancreatic cancer related Glypican 1 (GPC1) exosome quantification, based on in situ mass spectrometry signal amplification, by utilizing mass tag molecules on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Exosomes were extracted and purified by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), captured by TiO2 modified magnetic nanoparticles, and then targeted specifically by anti-GPC1 antibody modified on AuNPs. With matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), the signal of PC biomarker, GPC1, was converted to a mass tag signal and amplified. With addition of a certain amount of internal standard molecules modified on AuNPs, the relative intensity ratio of mass tag to internal standard was proportional to the concentration of GPC1(+) exosomes derived from pancreatic cancer cell lines, PANC-1, with good linearity (R2 = 0.9945) in a wide dynamic range from 7.1 × 10 to 7.1 × 106 particles/μL. This method was further applied to plasma samples from healthy control (HC) and pancreatic cancer patients with different tumor load, and exhibited a great potential in discriminating diagnosed PC patients from HC, and has the monitoring potential in PC progression.