This dataset is about characterization and phenotyping of cells and exosomes originating from polyomavirus-negative and polyomavirus-positive Merkel cell carcinoma cell lines.

Abstract: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine type of skin cancer associated with a poor prognosis. This carcinoma named after its presumed cell of origin, the Merkel cell, a mechanoreceptor cell located in the basal epidermal layer of the skin. However, this notion has challenged by suggesting epidermal stem cells, fibroblasts or pro/pre-B cells as possible cells of origin. Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) is the only known polyomavirus directly linked to human cancer. Approximately 80% of all MCCs are positive for viral DNA. UV exposure is the predominant etiological factor for virus-negative MCCs. Immune therapy is a promising treatment for MCC patients, but it has failed to arrest the cancer progression. Biomarkers discovery is an urgent, and high-throughput approaches were proposed. The high-dimensional data generation of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and imaging data by high-throughput approaches are a new type of biomarkers discovery platform. These data analyses unveil the cell origin and phenotype. Characterization and phenotyping of cells and exosomes originating from polyomavirus-negative and polyomavirus-positive MCC cell lines and their content analyses uncovered differentially expressed proteins and exosomal miRNAs.