Munteanu Raluca, Onaciu Anca, Moldovan Cristian, Zimta Alina-Andreea, Gulei Diana, Paradiso Angelo V, Lazar Vladimir, Berindan-Neagoe Ioana
Research Center for Advanced Medicine-Medfuture, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 23 Marinescu Street, 400337 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Oncologia Sperimentale, Istituto Tumori G Paolo II, IRCCS, 70125 Bari, Italy.
Pharmaceutics. 2020 Apr 28;12(5):402. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics12050402.
Cancer-associated adipocytes have functional roles in tumor development through secreted adipocyte-derived factors and exosomes and also through metabolic symbiosis, where the malignant cells take up the lactate, fatty acids and glutamine produced by the neighboring adipocytes. Recent research has demonstrated the value of adipocytes as cell-based delivery platforms for drugs (or prodrugs), nucleic acids or loaded nanoparticles for cancer therapy. This strategy takes advantage of the biocompatibility of the delivery system, its ability to locate the tumor site and also the predisposition of cancer cells to come in functional contact with the adipocytes from the tumor microenvironment for metabolic sustenance. Also, their exosomal content can be used in the context of cancer stem cell reprogramming or as a delivery vehicle for different cargos, like non-coding nucleic acids. Moreover, the process of adipocytes isolation, processing and charging is quite straightforward, with minimal economical expenses. The present review comprehensively presents the role of adipocytes in cancer (in the context of obese and non-obese individuals), the main methods for isolation and characterization and also the current therapeutic applications of these cells as delivery platforms in the oncology sector.
癌症相关脂肪细胞通过分泌脂肪细胞衍生因子和外泌体，以及通过代谢共生在肿瘤发展中发挥功能作用，在代谢共生过程中，恶性细胞摄取邻近脂肪细胞产生的乳酸、脂肪酸和谷氨酰胺。最近的研究表明，脂肪细胞作为基于细胞的药物（或前药）、核酸或负载纳米颗粒的递送平台用于癌症治疗具有价值。该策略利用了递送系统的生物相容性、其定位肿瘤部位的能力以及癌细胞与肿瘤微环境中的脂肪细胞进行功能性接触以获取代谢维持的倾向。此外，它们的外泌体内容物可用于癌症干细胞重编程的背景下，或作为不同货物（如非编码核酸）的递送载体。而且，脂肪细胞的分离、处理和装载过程相当简单，经济成本极低。本综述全面介绍了脂肪细胞在癌症中的作用（在肥胖和非肥胖个体的背景下）、分离和表征的主要方法，以及这些细胞作为递送平台在肿瘤学领域的当前治疗应用。
