DataVXAdvanced SciencePaper
journal article·2026-06Open access

Large‐Scale Quantitative Morphometry of Platelet α‐Granules via SIM Super‐Resolution Microscopy for Cancer Liquid Biopsy

Yan Ma, Huan Deng, Zelin Liu, Simei Zhong, Liangliang Wang, Mu He, Ning Jing, Lihua Dai, Yuzhen Basang, Xiao‐Yu Hu, Changyi Zhang, Huimin Zeng, Haoren Shao, Zhe Yang, Shanshan Zhao, Xiaohai Hu, Chuanjie Zhang, Xiaowei Wu, Jing Xu, Shaoqun Zeng, Jing Yuan, Qiang Li, Ziwei Qu, Zhenya Hong, Lingjuan Chen, Hanhua Dong, Jia Guo, Zhiqiang Han, Yu‐Hui Zhang

Advanced Science· Volume 13· Issue 34
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Source abstract

Abstract

ABSTRACT Blood‐based liquid biopsies hold transformative potential for non‐invasive cancer management, but current approaches relying on rare circulating tumor components limit their broad clinical utility. Platelets, abundant in blood and mediating diverse cancer‐associated responses, represent a compelling yet largely unexplored alternative. Using SIM super‐resolution microscopy, we analyzed α‐granule distributions in platelets from a multicenter cohort ( n = 1,556) encompassing nine cancer types and twelve non‐malignant diseases. We identified robust cancer‐associated alterations, particularly a marked increase in the “Circle” pattern, which exhibits excellent multi‐cancer diagnostic potential. This method, termed PAID (Platelet Alpha‐granule Imaging‐based Diagnostic assay), achieved 85.0% accuracy in prostate cancer within the diagnostically challenging PSA “gray zone”. PAID combined with PSA improved diagnostic accuracy to 94.2%, 38.4% over PSA alone, suggesting significant synergy. In ovarian cancer, PAID combined with HE4 enhanced diagnostic accuracy from 73.8% to 88.3%. Furthermore, PAID outperformed CA125 in sensitivity (90.3% vs 60.0%) for detecting ovarian cancer recurrence. We also observed that tumor cells may utilize both tumor‐derived exosomes and proteins to remodel platelet α‐granule distributions, suggesting the increased “Circle” pattern arises from synergistic rather than singular triggers. The non‐invasive, highly accurate PAID shows great promise in advancing liquid biopsy for cancer management.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Extracellular vesicles in disease · Inflammatory Biomarkers in Disease Prognosis · Platelet Disorders and Treatments

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

MOE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics Advanced Biomedical Imaging Facility‐Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China

Institute of Blood Transfusion of Hubei Province Wuhan Blood Center Wuhan China

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Tongji Hospital Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China

Department of Urology Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University Wuhan China

Hepatic Surgery Center Tongji Hospital Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China

Department of Thoracic Surgery Tongji Hospital Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China

Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Wuhan Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China

Department of Hematology Tongji Hospital Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China

Cancer Center Union Hospital Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan China

Hubei Key Laboratory of Precision Radiation Oncology Wuhan China

Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences Tongji Shanxi Hospital Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University Taiyuan China

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences Tongji Shanxi Hospital Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University Taiyuan China

Funding

National Key Research and Development Program of China · National Natural Science Foundation of China

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