Exosomes: The Role in Tumor Tolerance and the Potential Strategy for Tumor Therapy

Abstract

Drug and radiotherapy resistance is the primary cause of treatment failure and poor prognosis in patients with tumors. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles loaded with substances such as nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins that transmit information between cells. Studies have found that exosomes are involved in tumor therapy resistance through drug efflux, promotion of drug resistance phenotypes, delivery of drug-resistance-related molecules, and regulation of anti-tumor immune responses. Based on their low immunogenicity and high biocompatibility, exosomes have been shown to reduce tumor therapy resistance by loading nucleic acids, proteins, and drugs inside xosomes or expressing tumor-specific antigens, target peptides, and monoclonal antibodies on their phospholipid bimolecular membranes. Consequently, future research on genetically engineered exosomes is expected to eliminate resistance to tumor treatment, improving the overall prognosis of patients with tumors.

Exosome-based delivery strategies for tumor therapy: an update on modification, loading, and clinical application

“…The resulting exosomes could target sigma receptor-expressing tumor cells and inhibit their growth. Compared to exosomes loaded with paclitaxel alone, this new exosome had a stronger therapeutic effect on lung metastases [ 125 ]. In addition, polyethylene-glycolized exosomes showed enhanced cell specificity and circulation time [ 126 ].…”

The biological roles of CD47 in ovarian cancer progression

“…Exosomes can reflect their cell origin and disease status through the bioactive substances they transport. Thus, it can become a potential biomarker for disease diagnosis and prognosis, as well as a potential target for cancer treatment [ 58 , 59 ]. Shimizu and Sawada et al collected exosomes from ovarian cancer cell lines to detect the expression of CD47 on the exosome surface.…”

Harnessing the Power of Stimuli‐Responsive Nanoparticles as an Effective Therapeutic Drug Delivery System

“…Recently, dual/multi-stimuli reactive nanocarrier systems have been developed for diagnosis and therapy of different diseases, aiming to combine the merits of different responsive materials and overcome the demerits of single-stimulus responsiveness. [89] Dual-stimuli reactive nanosystems are being designed to react to a combination of two stimulus, including temperature/reduction, temperature/enzyme, pH/redox, pH/temperature, and others. [90] Moreover, multi-stimuli reactive polymeric NPs have been designed to react to a broader range of stimuli, such as temperature/pH/guest molecules, temperature/redox/guest molecules, pH/redox/magnetic, temperature/pH/redox, and so forth.…”

“…Recently, dual/multi‐stimuli reactive nanocarrier systems have been developed for diagnosis and therapy of different diseases, aiming to combine the merits of different responsive materials and overcome the demerits of single‐stimulus responsiveness. [ 89 ]…”