Proteomics. 2013 May;13(10-11):1581-94. doi: 10.1002/pmic.201200398. Epub 2013 Mar 22.
Exosomes are nanometer-sized vesicles (40-100 nm diameter) of endocytic origin released from different cell types under both normal and pathological conditions. They function as cell free messengers, playing a relevant role in the cell-cell communication that is strongly related to the nature of the molecules (proteins, mRNAs, miRNAs, and lipids) that they transport. Tumor cells actively shed exosomes into their surrounding microenvironment and growing evidence indicates that these vesicles have pleiotropic functions in the regulation of tumor progression, promoting immune escape, tumor invasion, neovascularization, and metastasis. During the last few years remarkable efforts have been made to obtain an accurate definition of the protein content of tumor-derived exosomes (TDEs) by applying MS-based proteomic technologies. To date, TDEs proteomic studies have been mainly utilized to catalog TDEs proteins with the purpose of identifying disease biomarkers. The future challenge for improving our understanding and characterization of TDEs will be the implementation of new systems-driven and proteomic integrative strategies. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the most characterized exosomes-mediated mechanisms that contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer and to review recent proteomics data that support the protumorigenic role of TDEs.
外泌体是纳米大小的囊泡（直径 40-100nm），来源于不同细胞类型，在正常和病理条件下都会释放。它们作为细胞外信使发挥作用，在细胞间通讯中发挥重要作用，而这种通讯与它们运输的分子（蛋白质、mRNA、miRNA 和脂质）的性质密切相关。肿瘤细胞会主动将外泌体释放到周围的微环境中，越来越多的证据表明，这些囊泡在调节肿瘤进展、促进免疫逃逸、肿瘤侵袭、新生血管生成和转移方面具有多种功能。在过去的几年中，人们做出了巨大的努力，通过应用基于 MS 的蛋白质组学技术来获得对肿瘤来源的外泌体（TDE）的蛋白质含量的准确定义。迄今为止，TDE 的蛋白质组学研究主要用于对 TDE 蛋白进行编目，目的是鉴定疾病生物标志物。提高我们对 TDE 理解和特征描述的未来挑战将是实施新的系统驱动和蛋白质组学综合策略。本文的目的是概述最具特征性的外泌体介导的机制，这些机制有助于癌症的发病机制，并回顾支持 TDE 促肿瘤作用的最近蛋白质组学数据。
