Abstract
PurposeThe present review aimed to assess the role of exosomal miRNAs in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), normal fibroblasts (NFs), and cancer cells. The roles of exosomal miRNAs and miRNA dysregulation in CAF formation and activation were summarized.MethodsAll relevant publications were retrieved from the PubMed database, with key words such as CAFs, CAF, stromal fibroblasts, cancer-associated fibroblasts, miRNA, exosomal, exosome, and similar terms.ResultsRecent studies have revealed that CAFs, NFs, and cancer cells can secrete exosomal miRNAs to affect each other. Dysregulation of miRNAs and exosomal miRNAs influence the formation and activation of CAFs. Furthermore, miRNA dysregulation in CAFs is considered to be associated with a secretory phenotype change, tumor invasion, tumor migration and metastasis, drug resistance, and poor prognosis.ConclusionsFinding of exosomal miRNA secretion provides novel insights into communication among CAFs, NFs, and cancer cells. MicroRNA dysregulation is also involved in the whole processes of CAF formation and function. Dysregulation of miRNAs in CAFs can affect the secretory phenotype of the latter cells.
Highlights
MicroRNAs, a major class of small non-coding RNAs that mediate post-transcriptional gene silencing by binding to the 3′-untranslated region (UTR) or open reading frames (ORFs) of target mRNAs, have been widely studied in various physiological and pathological processes [1, 2]
* Correspondence: shuyongqian1998@163.com; medshenhua@126.com †Equal contributors 1Department of Oncology, Sir Run Run Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article. As both processes are dysregulated in cancer formation and development, miRNAs can participate in several processes of cancer, such as metastasis, tumorigenesis, and drug resistance [6,7,8]
Previous studies reported that miRNAs might serve as a tool for cancer diagnosis [9], and dysregulation of miRNA expression could be used for patient prognosis [10]
Summary
Recent studies have revealed that CAFs, NFs, and cancer cells can secrete exosomal miRNAs to affect each other. MiRNA dysregulation in CAFs is considered to be associated with a secretory phenotype change, tumor invasion, tumor migration and metastasis, drug resistance, and poor prognosis
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