Homo sapiens Transcriptome or Gene expression

The goal of this project is, firstly, to characterize the mRNA contents of two extravesicle (EV) fractions, exosomes and large oncosomes, along with the mRNA contents of the source cell line. After mRNA quantification, the next goal is to characterize what attributes of the mRNAs determine their enrichment in, or depletion from, the EV fractions compared to the whole cells. The second part of the project is the sequencing of mRNA in the EV fractions of breast cancer patients and healthy women, to see if patterns observed in the cell line are recapitulated in circulating EVs. This project is relevant in understanding the source of EV mRNA, and the potential use of EVs as biomarkers.