Abstract
Stem cells are known to maintain stemness at least in part through secreted factors that promote stem-like phenotypes in resident cells. Accumulating evidence has clarified that stem cells release nano-vesicles, known as exosomes, which may serve as mediators of cell-to-cell communication and may potentially transmit stem cell phenotypes to recipient cells, facilitating stem cell maintenance, differentiation, self-renewal, and repair. It has become apparent that stem cell-derived exosomes mediate interactions among stromal elements, promote genetic instability in recipient cells, and induce malignant transformation. This review will therefore discuss the potential of stem cell-derived exosomes in the context of stromal remodeling and their ability to generate cancer-initiating cells in a tumor niche by inducing morphologic and functional differentiation of fibroblasts into tumor-initiating fibroblasts. In addition, the immunosuppressive potential of stem cell-derived exosomes in cancer immunotherapy and their prospective applications in cell-free therapies in future translational medicine is discussed.
Highlights
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are tumor cells with substantial potential for self-renewal, clonal tumor initiation, long-term repopulation, and phenotypic plasticity preservation [1, 2]
The origin of CSCs and the prediction of their biological activity are controversial subjects, they have been explained using a CSC model. This model posits that a defined subset of biologically distinct cells is solely responsible for initiating malignancy [7, 8] and that the tumor population is hierarchically arranged within the tumor niche
Exosomes may offer a nontoxic framework of protective molecules during transplantation, as they are capable of inducing endogenous regenerative programs in damaged tissues
Summary
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are tumor cells with substantial potential for self-renewal, clonal tumor initiation, long-term repopulation, and phenotypic plasticity preservation [1, 2]. The biological effects and immunoregulatory functions of MSCs depend largely on secreted factors that potentially stimulate tissue-intrinsic progenitor cell programs and may promote the differentiation and tissue-reparative properties of MSCs [15, 17].
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