Exosomes and Their Role in Cancer Progression

Yang Liu; Ke Shi; Yong Chen; Xianrui Wu; Zheng Chen; Ke Cao; Yongguang Tao; Xiang Chen; Junlin Liao; Jianda Zhou

doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.639159

Exosomes and Their Role in Cancer Progression

Front Oncol. 2021 Mar 22:11:639159. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.639159. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yang Liu¹, Ke Shi¹, Yong Chen², Xianrui Wu¹, Zheng Chen¹, Ke Cao³, Yongguang Tao⁴, Xiang Chen⁵, Junlin Liao⁶, Jianda Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ Departments of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
² Department of Dermatology, The First Hospital of Changsha, Changsha, China.
³ Department of Oncology, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis, Ministry of Education, Cancer Research Institute, School of Basic Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁵ Department of Dermatology of Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁶ Departments of Medical Cosmetology, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang, China.

Abstract

Exosomes from extracellular vesicles can activate or inhibit various signaling pathways by transporting proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and other substances to recipient cells. In addition, exosomes are considered to be involved in the development and progression of tumors from different tissue sources in numerous ways, including remodeling of the tumor microenvironment, promoting angiogenesis, metastasis, and invasion, and regulating the immune escape of tumor cells. However, the precise molecular mechanisms by which exosomes participate in these different processes remains unclear. In this review, we describe the research progress of tumor cell-derived exosomes in cancer progression. We also discuss the prospects of the application of exosomes combined with nanoengineered chemotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of cancer.

Keywords: EMT - epithelial to mesenchymal transformation; angiogenesis; cancer treatment; exosomes; immune regulation; tumor microenvironment.

Publication types

Review