Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles secreted by almost all the cells. Molecular cargos of exosomes can partially reflect the characteristics of originating cells. Exosome-mediated cell-to-cell interactions in the microenvironment are critical in cancer progression. Hypoxia, a key pro-cancerous feature of the tumor microenvironment, alters the releasing and contents of exosomes. A growing body of evidence shows that hypoxia induces more aggressive phenotypes in cancer. Of note, non-coding RNAs shuttled in hypoxic tumor-derived exosomes have been demonstrated as fundamental molecules in regulating cancer biology and remodeling tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, these hypoxic tumor-derived exosomal non-coding RNAs can be detected in the body fluids, serving as promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. The current review discusses changes in cancer behaviors regulated by exosomes-secreted non-coding RNAs under hypoxic conditions.
Keywords: Exosomes; Hypoxia; LncRNA; MiRNA; Non-coding RNA; Tumor microenvironment.