Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council-National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, 741251 Kalyani, India.
Department of Biotechnology, GLA University, 281406 Mathura, India.
Front Biosci (Landmark Ed). 2024 Oct 31;29(11):375. doi: 10.31083/j.fbl2911375.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs), the ubiquitous part of human biology, represent a small heterogenous, membrane-enclosed body that contains a diverse payload including genetic materials in the form of DNA, RNAs, small non-coding RNAs, etc. mostly mirroring their source of origin. Since, a vast majority of research has been conducted on how nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, and metabolites, associated with EVs can be effectively utilized to identify disease progression and therapeutic responses in cancer patients, EVs are increasingly being touted as valuable and reliable identifiers of cancer biomarkers in liquid biopsies. However, the lack of comprehensive clinical validation and effective standardization protocols severely limits its applications beyond the laboratories. The present review focuses on understanding the role of circulating EVs in different cancers and how they could potentially be treated as cancer biomarkers, typically due to the presence of bioactive molecules such as small non-coding RNAs, RNAs, DNA, proteins, etc., and their utilization for fine-tuning therapies. Here, we provide a brief general biology of EVs including their classification and subsequently discuss the source of circulatory EVs, the role of their associated payload as biomarkers, and how different cancers affect the level of circulatory EVs population.
细胞外囊泡（EVs）是人类生物学中无处不在的一部分，它们是一种小的异质的、膜包裹的小体，包含多种不同的物质，包括 DNA、RNA、小非编码 RNA 等遗传物质，这些物质大多反映了它们的来源。由于绝大多数研究都集中在研究与 EVs 相关的核酸、蛋白质、脂质和代谢物如何被有效利用，以识别癌症患者的疾病进展和治疗反应，因此 EVs 被越来越多地吹捧为液体活检中癌症生物标志物的有价值和可靠的识别物。然而，缺乏全面的临床验证和有效的标准化协议严重限制了其在实验室之外的应用。本综述重点讨论了循环 EVs 在不同癌症中的作用，以及它们如何可能被用作癌症生物标志物，这通常是由于存在生物活性分子，如小非编码 RNA、RNA、DNA、蛋白质等，以及它们在微调治疗中的应用。在这里，我们提供了 EVs 的简要一般生物学，包括它们的分类，随后讨论了循环 EVs 的来源，它们相关的物质作为生物标志物的作用，以及不同的癌症如何影响循环 EVs 群体的水平。
