REVIEWARTICLEOPENExosomes:keyplayersincancerandpotentialtherapeuticstrategyJieDai1,2,YangzhouSu1,2,SuyeZhong1,2,LiCong1,2,BangLiu1,2,JunjunYang3,YongguangTao4,ZupingHe1,2,ChaoChen5andYiqunJiang1,2Exosomesareextracellularvesiclessecretedbymosteukaryoticcellsandparticipateinintercellularcommunication.Thecomponentsofexosomes,includingproteins,DNA,mRNA,microRNA,longnoncodingRNA,circularRNA,etc.,whichplayacrucialroleinregulatingtumorgrowth,metastasis,andangiogenesisintheprocessofcancerdevelopment,andcanbeusedasaprognosticmarkerand/orgradingbasisfortumorpatients.Hereby,wemainlysummarizedasfollowed:theroleofexosomecontentsincancer,focusingonproteinsandnoncodingRNA;theinteractionbetweenexosomesandtumormicroenvironment;themechanismsthatepithelial-mesenchymaltransition,invasionandmigrationoftumoraffectedbyexosomes;andtumorsuppressionstrategiesbasedonexosomes.Finally,theapplicationpotentialofexosomesinclinicaltumordiagnosisandtherapyisprospected,whichprovidingtheoreticalsupportsforusingexosomestoserveprecisetumortreatmentintheclinic.SignalTransductionandTargetedTherapy(2020)5:145;https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-020-00261-0INTRODUCTIONExosomes,withasizerangeof40–160nanometersindiameter(averaging100nanometers),areasubsetofextracellularvesicles(EVs)surroundedbyalipidbilayermembraneandsecretedbymosteukaryoticcells,1Identifiedasearlyasinlate1980s,exosomeswereoriginallyandsimplyconsideredascellularwasteproducts.2However,withthedevelopmentofresearchmethodologiesandtechniques,peoplenowhaverealizedthatexosomesrepresentanovelmodeofintercellularcommunicationandcontributetoawiderangeofbiologicalprocessesinhealthanddiseaseincludingcancer.3Thebiologicalfunctionofexosomereliesonitsbioactivecargos,suchaslipids,metabolites,proteinsandnucleicacids,4–7whichcanbedeliveredtothetargetcells.Growingevidencesuggeststhattumor-derivedexosomes(TEXs)playcriticalrolesincancer.Exosomesandtheircargosmayserveascancerprognosticmarker,therapeutictargetsorevenasanticancerdrug‐carrier.8Inthisreview,weendeavo...
