Molecular methods for assessing urothelial disease

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to methods of collecting exosomes and microvesicles (EMV) from urine, isolating corresponding mRNA, and analyzing expression patterns in order to diagnose and treat various urothelial cancers. In particular, various expression patterns are analyzed through a unique diagnostic formula.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for treating a urothelial cancer in a human subject comprising:
 identifying the subject for treating the urothelial cancer by identifying that an expression level of at least one marker selected from the group consisting of SLC2A1, S100A13, KRT17, GPRC5A, P4HA1, and HSD17B2 in urinary exosomes and microvesicles isolated from the subject is higher than an expression level of the at least one marker in a urine sample obtained from a non-urothelial cancer subject; and   administering a treatment selected from the group consisting of cystoscopy, tumor resection, surgery, chemotherapy, and cystectomy to the subject.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting a reference gene wherein a said reference gene is used to normalize said expression level of said at least one marker wherein the reference gene is selected from the group consisting of ACTB, ALDOB, DHRS2 and UPK1A.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting a reference gene wherein said reference gene is used to normalize the expression level of the at least one marker, wherein said reference gene is selected from the group consisting of ALDOB, DHRS2 and UPK1A.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the normalization is done by a delta Ct method. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one marker is selected from the group consisting of SLC2A1, S100A13, KRT17 and GPRC5A. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one marker is selected from the group consisting of SLC2A1, S100A13, and KRT17. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a value of a diagnostic formula is obtained by machine learning technique such as logistic regression analysis and support vector machine using the expression level of the at least one marker. 
     
     
         8 . A method of  claim 1 , wherein the urothelial cancer to be detected is selected from the group consisting of bladder cancer, renal pelvis cancer, and ureter cancer. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the urothelial cancer to be detected is recurrent bladder cancer. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the subject does not show a urine cytology positive result. 
     
     
         11 . A method for treating a human subject with a urothelial cancer, the method comprising: identifying the subject for treating the urothelial cancer by identifying an expression of at least one RNA associated with said urothelial cancer, comparing said at least one RNA in a vesicle isolated from a urine sample from said subject with an expression of said at least one RNA in a vesicle isolated from a urine sample of a healthy human donor, wherein the at least one RNA is selected from the group consisting of KRT17, SLC2A1, ALDOB, LINC00967, SLC16A9, CRH, PCAT4, AQP3, THAP7, FADS2, SERPINE1, AS1, OLFM3, S100A13, C5orf30, GINM1, GPRC5A, P4HA1, HSD17B2, and TOP1P1, wherein an increase in said expression of said at least one RNA of said subject compared to said expression of said at least one RNA of said donor indicates said subject has urothelial cancer when said increase is beyond a threshold level,
 wherein said comparing said expression of said at least one RNA in said vesicle isolated from said urine sample further comprises:
 (a) capturing said vesicle from said sample from said subject by moving said sample from said subject across a vesicle-capturing filter, 
 (b) loading a lysis buffer onto said vesicle-capturing filter, thereby lysing said vesicle to release a vesicle-associated RNA, 
 (c) quantifying said expression of said at least one RNA associated with urothelial cancer in said vesicle-associated RNA by PCR; 
   administering a treatment selected from the group consisting of cystoscopy, tumor resection, surgery, chemotherapy, and cystectomy to the subject having urothelial cancer.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein quantifying said expression of said at least one RNA by PCR comprises:
 contacting said vesicle-associated RNA with a reverse transcriptase to generate complementary DNA (cDNA);   contacting said cDNA with sense and antisense primers that are specific for said at least one RNA associated with urothelial cancer and with a DNA polymerase to generate amplified DNA;   contacting said cDNA with sense and antisense primers that are specific for a reference RNA and with said DNA polymerase to generate amplified DNA; and   using analytical software to determine an expression level or quantity or amount for said at least one RNA.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein using analytical software to determine an expression level or quantity or amount for said at least one RNA associated with urothelial cancer comprises:
 using analytical software to determine a marker cycle threshold (Ct) value for said at least one RNA associated with urothelial cancer;   using analytical software to determine a reference Ct value for a reference RNA; and   subtracting the reference Ct value from the marker Ct value to obtain a marker delta Ct value.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein said at least one RNA associated with urothelial cancer is selected from the group consisting of SLC2A1, S100A13, KRT17, GPRC5A, P4HA1, and HSD17B2. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said reference RNA is selected from the group consisting of ACTB, ALDOB, DHRS2 and UPK1A. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said increase is beyond said threshold level when said marker delta Ct value is less than 6. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said comparing further comprises:
 determining a value of a diagnostic formula from said expression of said at least one RNA isolated from said subject, wherein the diagnostic formula is a linear or non-linear mathematical formula, wherein the at least one RNA is 1 gene to 20 genes, more preferably 2 genes to 10 genes.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the at least one RNA is selected from the group consisting of KRT17, SLC2A1, ALDOB, LINC00967, SLC16A9, CRH, PCAT4, AQP3, THAP7, FADS2, SERPINE1, AS1, OLFM3, S100A13, C5orf30, GINM1, GPRC5A and TOP1P1. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one RNA is selected from the group consisting of ALDOB, CRH, SERPINE1 and SLC2A1.