Exosomes as divine messengers: are they the Hermes of modern molecular oncology?

Abstract

Exosomes are cell-derived vesicles that convey key elements with the potential to modulate intercellular communication. They are known to be secreted from all types of cells, and are crucial messengers that can regulate cellular processes by 'trafficking' molecules from cells of one tissue to another. The exosomal content has been shown to be broad, composed of different types of cytokines, growth factors, proteins, or nucleic acids. Besides messenger RNA (mRNA) they can also contain noncoding transcripts such as microRNAs (miRNAs), which are small endogenous cellular regulators of protein expression. In diseases such as cancer, exosomes can facilitate tumor progression by altering their vesicular content and supplying the tumor niche with molecules that favor the progression of oncogenic processes such as proliferation, invasion and metastasis, or even drug resistance. The packaging of their molecular content is known to be tissue specific, a fact that makes them interesting tools in clinical diagnostics and ideal candidates for biomarkers. In the current report, we describe the main properties of exosomes and explain their involvement in processes such as cell differentiation and cell death. Furthermore, we emphasize the need of developing patient-targeted treatments by applying the conceptualization of exosomal-derived miRNA-based therapeutics.

miR-450a-5p within rat adipose tissue exosome-like vesicles promotes adipogenic differentiation by targeting WISP2

“…Therefore, enriched vesicles having similar morphology and size consistent with exosomes are defined as exosome-like vesicles . Exosomes can facilitate intercellular communication by transferring proteins and non-coding RNAs (such as microRNAs; miRNAs) (Kahlert and Kalluri, 2013;Braicu et al, 2014). Although some functions or mechanisms remain elusive, it has been demonstrated that exosomes can modulate their neighboring cells by influencing major cellular process including apoptosis, cell differentiation, proliferation and metabolism (Qin et al, 2016;Braicu et al, 2014).…”

“…Exosomes can facilitate intercellular communication by transferring proteins and non-coding RNAs (such as microRNAs; miRNAs) (Kahlert and Kalluri, 2013;Braicu et al, 2014). Although some functions or mechanisms remain elusive, it has been demonstrated that exosomes can modulate their neighboring cells by influencing major cellular process including apoptosis, cell differentiation, proliferation and metabolism (Qin et al, 2016;Braicu et al, 2014). One obvious point about the content of exosomes is that they contain miRNAs, which can inhibit translation of mRNAs by targeting 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs) (Batiz et al, 2015).…”

Characterization of exosomal RNAs derived from human gastric cancer cells by deep sequencing

“…gastric cancer (GC) cells and pancreatic cancer cells). 6 Exosomes contain various proteins, messenger RNA (mRNA), and microRNA (miRNA), depending on…”

Carcinogenic activity of PbS quantum dots screened using exosomal biomarkers secreted from HEK293 cells

“…61 Our results implied that increased KRT5 expression in cells might be required for cellular function, but not for transfer to recipient cells. Figure 6D shows the signal intensification of protein biomarkers in exosomes compared to their parent cells (ratio of exosomal/cellular fold changes from the data shown in Figures 4B and 6C).…”