Fig. 5

High HSP90B1 expression in exosomes derived from peripheral blood is associated with advanced colon cancers and poor clinical outcomes. (A-C) 20 µg of exosomes derived from the peripheral blood of healthy individuals (n = 10) or colon cancer patients (n = 10) were subjected to mass spectrometry (A) or western blot (B-C) analyses. (D-E) 20 µg of exosomes derived from the peripheral blood of colon cancer patients with lymph node-negative (n = 5), lymph node-positive (n = 5), or hepatic metastasis (n = 5) were subjected to western blot analyses. The classification of node-positive, node-negative, or distant metastasis was determined by experienced clinicians based on imaging assessments, followed by confirmation through subsequent pathological verification. (F) The correlation between the HSP90B1 levels in exosomes derived from the peripheral blood of colon cancer patients and overall survival (OS) was analyzed. (G) A model depicts that colon cancer exosome-associated HSP90B1 initiates pre-metastatic niche formation in the liver by polarizing M1 macrophage into M2 phenotype to facilitate liver metastasis. Data were presented as mean ± SEM (C and E). Statistical analyses were performed with one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s test (E), unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test (C), and Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test (F)