FRET imaging of glycoRNA on small extracellular vesicles enabling sensitive cancer diagnostics

Abstract Glycosylated RNAs (glycoRNAs), a recently discovered class of membrane-associated glyco-molecules, remain poorly understood in function and clinical value due to limited detection methods. Here, we show a dual recognition Förster resonance energy transfer (drFRET) strategy using nucleic aci...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tingju Ren, Yingzhi Zhang, Yuxiao Tong, Qi Zhang, Tianhao Wang, Yue Wang, Chunguang Yang, Zhangrun Xu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-04-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58490-2
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Summary:Abstract Glycosylated RNAs (glycoRNAs), a recently discovered class of membrane-associated glyco-molecules, remain poorly understood in function and clinical value due to limited detection methods. Here, we show a dual recognition Förster resonance energy transfer (drFRET) strategy using nucleic acid probes to detect N-acetylneuraminic acid-modified RNAs, enabling sensitive, selective profiling of glycoRNAs on small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) from minimal biofluids (10 μl initial biofluid). Using drFRET, we identify 5 prevalent sEV glycoRNAs derived from 7 cancer cell lines. In a 100-patient cohort (6 cancer types and non-cancer controls), sEV glycoRNA profiles achieve 100% accuracy (95% confidence interval) in distinguishing cancers from non-cancer cases and 89% accuracy in classifying specific cancer types. Furthermore, drFRET reveal that sEV glycoRNAs specifically interact with Siglec proteins and P-selectin, which is critical for sEV cellular internalization. The drFRET strategy provides a versatile and sensitive platform for the imaging and functional analysis of sEV glycoRNAs, with promising implications for clinical applications.
ISSN:2041-1723