Reiners Katrin S, Dassler Juliane, Coch Christoph, Pogge von Strandmann Elke
Clinic I for Internal Medicine, University of Cologne , Cologne , Germany.
Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology, University Hospital Bonn , Bonn , Germany.
Front Immunol. 2014 Mar 7;5:91. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00091. eCollection 2014.
Exosomes are endosomal-derived nanovesicles released by normal and tumor cells, which transfer functionally active proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids between cells. They are important mediators of intercellular communication and act on the adjacent stroma as well as in the periphery. Recently, exosomes have been recognized to play a pathophysiological role in various diseases such as cancer or infectious diseases. Tumor cell-derived exosomes (Tex) have been shown to act as tumor promotors by educating non-malignant cells to provide a tumor supporting microenvironment, which helps to circumvent immune detection by the host and supports metastasis. However, Tex with anti-tumor, immune-activating properties were also described reflecting the complexity of exosomes. Here, we assess the role of extracellular microvesicles/exosomes as messengers affecting NK cell function in health and disease and discuss the molecular basis for the differential impact of exosomes on NK cell activity. The molecular composition/load of exosomes and the mechanisms regulating their release remain unclear and need to be further analyzed to facilitate the development of new treatment options targeting the exosomal machinery.
外泌体是由正常细胞和肿瘤细胞释放的内体来源的纳米囊泡，可在细胞间传递功能活性蛋白、脂质和核酸。它们是细胞间通讯的重要介质，作用于邻近的基质以及外周组织。最近，外泌体已被认为在各种疾病如癌症或传染病中发挥病理生理作用。肿瘤细胞衍生的外泌体（Tex）已被证明可通过教育非恶性细胞提供肿瘤支持性微环境来充当肿瘤促进剂，这有助于规避宿主的免疫检测并支持转移。然而，也有具有抗肿瘤、免疫激活特性的Tex的报道，这反映了外泌体的复杂性。在此，我们评估细胞外微泡/外泌体作为影响健康和疾病中NK细胞功能的信使的作用，并讨论外泌体对NK细胞活性产生不同影响的分子基础。外泌体的分子组成/负载以及调节其释放的机制仍不清楚，需要进一步分析以促进针对外泌体机制的新治疗方案的开发。
