Dhondt Bert, Rousseau Quentin, De Wever Olivier, Hendrix An
Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, Department of Radiation Oncology and Experimental Cancer Research, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Department of Uro-Gynaecology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
Cell Tissue Res. 2016 Sep;365(3):621-41. doi: 10.1007/s00441-016-2430-x. Epub 2016 Jun 11.
Extracellular RNA (exRNA) is functionally transferrable from donor to recipient cells and is protected from RNAses by electrostatic interactions with proteins or by membrane encapsulation. In addition to bioactive RNA, extracellular vesicles (EVs) contain intraluminal and membrane-associated proteins. The cellular context and fitness affect the composition of EVs and thus the outcome of the communication between the EV-producer and recipient cells. Adaptive communication through EVs is particularly important between cancer cells and their local and distant environment and drives life-threatening metastatic progression. Small noncoding RNAs (miRNAs) have been reported in EV isolations and play a role in local invasion, angiogenesis, immune modulation, metastatic niche preparation, colonization and dormancy. The metastasis-related functions attributed to EV-associated miRNAs are currently increasing exponentially in the scientific literature. We must be aware that the correct and efficient separation of non-vesicular entities (soluble proteins, RNA-protein complexes and RNA-lipoprotein complexes) from EVs is necessary to determine the true contribution of EVs in any experiment that describes the molecular content or the functional consequences of the isolated material.
细胞外RNA（exRNA）在功能上可从供体细胞转移至受体细胞，并通过与蛋白质的静电相互作用或被膜包裹而免受核糖核酸酶的降解。除了生物活性RNA外，细胞外囊泡（EVs）还包含腔内和膜相关蛋白。细胞环境和适应性会影响EVs的组成，进而影响EVs产生细胞与受体细胞之间通讯的结果。通过EVs进行的适应性通讯在癌细胞与其局部和远处环境之间尤为重要，并驱动危及生命的转移进程。在EVs分离物中已报道了小非编码RNA（miRNAs），它们在局部侵袭、血管生成、免疫调节、转移小生境准备、定植和休眠中发挥作用。目前，科学文献中归因于与EV相关的miRNAs的转移相关功能正呈指数级增长。我们必须认识到，在任何描述分离材料的分子含量或功能后果的实验中，从EVs中正确、有效地分离非囊泡实体（可溶性蛋白、RNA-蛋白复合物和RNA-脂蛋白复合物）对于确定EVs的真正作用是必要的。
