Abstract
Emerging shreds of evidence suggest that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) modulate various hallmarks of cancer during tumor progression. Tumor microenvironment (TME) prime TAMs to execute important roles in cancer development and progression, including angiogenesis, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) secretion, and extracellular matrix (ECM) disruption. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical epigenetic regulators, which modulate various functions in diverse types of cells, including macrophages associated with TME. In this review article, we provide an update on miRNAs regulating differentiation, maturation, activation, polarization, and recruitment of macrophages in the TME. Furthermore, extracellular miRNAs are secreted from cancerous cells, which control macrophages phenotypic plasticity to support tumor growth. In return, TAMs also secrete various miRNAs that regulate tumor growth. Herein, we also describe the recent updates on the molecular connection between tumor cells and macrophages. A better understanding of the interaction between miRNAs and TAMs will provide new pharmacological targets to combat cancer.
Highlights
Tumor microenvironment (TME) contains fibroblast cells, stromal cells, epithelial cells, adipocytes, B-cells, T-cells, mast cells, pericytes, macrophages, et cetera
Over the last two decades, accumulated data suggest that TME contains a significant population of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which play an imperative role in cancer development such as lung and ovarian [5,6]
The published reports suggest a positive correlation between the TAM population and poor prognosis of various malignancies, counting breast, prostate, and bladder cancers [7,8,9,10].TAMs play a key role in the cancer development by increasing cancer cell mobility, activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), angiogenesis, extravasation, and immunosuppressive activity [6,11]
Summary
TME contains fibroblast cells, stromal cells, epithelial cells, adipocytes, B-cells, T-cells, mast cells, pericytes, macrophages, et cetera. The published reports suggest a positive correlation between the TAM population and poor prognosis of various malignancies, counting breast, prostate, and bladder cancers [7,8,9,10].TAMs play a key role in the cancer development by increasing cancer cell mobility, activation of MMPs, angiogenesis, extravasation, and immunosuppressive activity [6,11]. Another vital characteristic of macrophages is phenotypic plasticity. Emerging studies suggest that TAMs might be used as predictive biomarkers for diagnosis of many types of cancers and possible pharmacological targets in cancer therapy [29]
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