Wang Xia, Tian Lu, Lu Jingyi, Ng Irene Oi-Lin
Department of Pathology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
State Key Laboratory of Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Oncogenesis. 2022 Sep 15;11(1):54. doi: 10.1038/s41389-022-00431-5.
Exosomes belong to a subpopulation of extracellular vesicles secreted by the dynamic multistep endocytosis process and carry diverse functional molecular cargoes, including proteins, lipids, nucleic acids (DNA, messenger and noncoding RNA), and metabolites to promote intercellular communication. Proteins and noncoding RNA are among the most abundant contents in exosomes; they have biological functions and are selectively packaged into exosomes. Exosomes derived from tumor, stromal and immune cells contribute to the multiple stages of cancer progression as well as resistance to therapy. In this review, we will discuss the biogenesis of exosomes and their roles in cancer development. Since specific contents within exosomes originate from their cells of origin, this property allows exosomes to function as valuable biomarkers. We will also discuss the potential use of exosomes as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers or predictors for different therapeutic strategies for multiple cancers. Furthermore, the applications of exosomes as direct therapeutic targets or engineered vehicles for drugs are an important field of exosome study. Better understanding of exosome biology may pave the way to promising exosome-based clinical applications.
外泌体属于通过动态多步骤内吞作用过程分泌的细胞外囊泡亚群，携带多种功能性分子货物，包括蛋白质、脂质、核酸（DNA、信使RNA和非编码RNA）以及代谢产物，以促进细胞间通讯。蛋白质和非编码RNA是外泌体中含量最丰富的成分；它们具有生物学功能，并被选择性地包装到外泌体中。源自肿瘤细胞、基质细胞和免疫细胞的外泌体促进癌症进展的多个阶段以及对治疗的抗性。在这篇综述中，我们将讨论外泌体的生物发生及其在癌症发展中的作用。由于外泌体内的特定成分源自其起源细胞，这一特性使外泌体能够作为有价值的生物标志物发挥作用。我们还将讨论外泌体作为诊断和预后生物标志物或多种癌症不同治疗策略预测指标的潜在用途。此外，外泌体作为直接治疗靶点或药物工程载体的应用是外泌体研究的一个重要领域。更好地理解外泌体生物学可能为基于外泌体的有前景的临床应用铺平道路。
