Abstract
Exosomes have emerged as a novel mode of intercellular communication. Exosomes can shuttle bioactive molecules including proteins, DNA, mRNA, as well as non-coding RNAs from one cell to another, leading to the exchange of genetic information and reprogramming of the recipient cells. Increasing evidence suggests that tumor cells release excessive amount of exosomes, which may influence tumor initiation, growth, progression, metastasis, and drug resistance. In addition, exosomes transfer message from tumor cells to immune cells and stromal cells, contributing to the escape from immune surveillance and the formation of tumor niche. In this review, we highlight the recent advances in the biology of exosomes as cancer communicasomes. We review the multifaceted roles of exosomes, the small secreted particles, in communicating with other cells within tumor microenvironment. Given that exosomes are cell type specific, stable, and accessible from body fluids, exosomes may provide promising biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and represent new targets for cancer therapy.
Highlights
Exosomes are small, lipid bilayer membrane vesicles of endocytic origin
Exosomes have been suggested as active transporters for proteins, DNA, mRNA, and non-coding RNAs
Some reports have suggested anti-tumor roles of exosomes due to their potential to elicit immune response, most of the reports have revealed the various pro-tumor effects of exosomes, which is further supported by the observations that the level of circulating exosomes is increased in cancer patients and correlated with tumor progression
Summary
Lipid bilayer membrane vesicles of endocytic origin. Exosomes can be defined by several common characteristics, including size (50–100 nm in diameter), density (1.13–1.19 g/ml), morphology (“cup” or “dish” shaped in transmission electron microscopy), and certain enriched protein markers (tetraspanins, TSG101, Hsp70). Induces tumor angiogenesis miR-125b, 130b, 155 Prostate cancer (PC) cells They further demonstrate that the exosomes from serum specimen from breast cancer patients but not those from healthy donors induce tumor formation in mice when coinjected with the nontumorigenic epithelial cells, suggesting a potential mechanism for exosome in tumorigenesis.
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