scholarly journals The Role of Extracellular Vesicles in the Hallmarks of Cancer and Drug Resistance

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina P. R. Xavier ◽  
Hugo R. Caires ◽  
Mélanie A. G. Barbosa ◽  
Rui Bergantim ◽  
José E. Guimarães ◽  
...  

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) mediate intercellular signaling and communication, allowing the intercellular exchange of proteins, lipids, and genetic material. Their recognized role in the maintenance of the physiological balance and homeostasis seems to be severely disturbed throughout the carcinogenesis process. Indeed, the modus operandi of cancer implies the highjack of the EV signaling network to support tumor progression in many (if not all) human tumor malignancies. We have reviewed the current evidence for the role of EVs in affecting cancer hallmark traits by: (i) promoting cell proliferation and escape from apoptosis, (ii) sustaining angiogenesis, (iii) contributing to cancer cell invasion and metastasis, (iv) reprogramming energy metabolism, (v) transferring mutations, and (vi) modulating the tumor microenvironment (TME) by evading immune response and promoting inflammation. Special emphasis was given to the role of EVs in the transfer of drug resistant traits and to the EV cargo responsible for this transfer, both between cancer cells or between the microenvironment and tumor cells. Finally, we reviewed evidence for the increased release of EVs by drug resistant cells. A timely and comprehensive understanding of how tumor EVs facilitate tumor initiation, progression, metastasis and drug resistance is instrumental for the development of innovative EV-based therapeutic approaches for cancer.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 4166
Author(s):  
Saeideh Maleki ◽  
James Jabalee ◽  
Cathie Garnis

Although advances in targeted therapies have driven great progress in cancer treatment and outcomes, drug resistance remains a major obstacle to improving patient survival. Several mechanisms are involved in developing resistance to both conventional chemotherapy and molecularly targeted therapies, including drug efflux, secondary mutations, compensatory genetic alterations occurring upstream or downstream of a drug target, oncogenic bypass, drug activation and inactivation, and DNA damage repair. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bound lipid bilayer vesicles that are involved in cell–cell communication and regulating biological processes. EVs derived from cancer cells play critical roles in tumor progression, metastasis, and drug resistance by delivering protein and genetic material to cells of the tumor microenvironment. Understanding the biochemical and genetic mechanisms underlying drug resistance will aid in the development of new therapeutic strategies. Herein, we review the role of EVs as mediators of drug resistance in the context of cancer.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 2758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Carrasco ◽  
Gonzalo Soto-Heredero ◽  
María Mittelbrunn

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, microvesicles, and apoptotic bodies, are cell-derived membranous structures that were originally catalogued as a way of releasing cellular waste products. Since the discovery of their function in intercellular communication as carriers of proteins, lipids, and DNA and RNA molecules, numerous therapeutic approaches have focused on the use of EVs, in part because of their minimized risk compared to cell-based therapies. The skin is the organ with the largest surface in the body. Besides the importance of its body barrier function, much attention has been paid to the skin in regenerative medicine because of its cosmetic aspect, which is closely related to disorders affecting pigmentation and the presence or absence of hair follicles. The use of exosomes in therapeutic approaches for cutaneous wound healing has been reported and is briefly reviewed here. However, less attention has been paid to emerging interest in the potential capacity of EVs as modulators of hair follicle dynamics. Hair follicles are skin appendices that mainly comprise an epidermal and a mesenchymal component, with the former including a major reservoir of epithelial stem cells but also melanocytes and other cell types. Hair follicles continuously cycle, undergoing consecutive phases of resting, growing, and regression. Many biomolecules carried by EVs have been involved in the control of the hair follicle cycle and stem cell function. Thus, investigating the role of either naturally produced or therapeutically delivered EVs as signaling vehicles potentially involved in skin homeostasis and hair cycling may be an important step in the attempt to design future strategies towards the efficient treatment of several skin disorders.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (17) ◽  
pp. 5951
Author(s):  
Laura Patras ◽  
Marcel H. A. M. Fens ◽  
Pieter Vader ◽  
Arjan Barendrecht ◽  
Alina Sesarman ◽  
...  

Extracellular vesicles (EV) secreted in the tumour microenvironment (TME) are emerging as major antagonists of anticancer therapies by orchestrating the therapeutic outcome through altering the behaviour of recipient cells. Recent evidence suggested that chemotherapeutic drugs could be responsible for the EV-mediated tumour–stroma crosstalk associated with cancer cell drug resistance. Here, we investigated the capacity of tumour EV (TEV) secreted by normoxic and hypoxic (1% oxygen) C26 cancer cells after doxorubicin (DOX) treatment to alter the response of naïve C26 cells and RAW 264.7 macrophages to DOX. We observed that C26 cells were less responsive to DOX treatment under normoxia compared to hypoxia, and a minimally cytotoxic DOX concentration that mounted distinct effects on cell viability was selected for TEV harvesting. Homotypic and heterotypic pretreatment of naïve hypoxic cancer and macrophage-like cells with normoxic DOX-elicited TEV rendered these cells slightly less responsive to DOX treatment. The observed effects were associated with strong hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) induction and B-cell lymphoma–extra-large anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl-xL)-mediated anti-apoptotic response in normoxic DOX-treated TEV donor cells, being also tightly connected to the DOX-TEV-mediated HIF-1α induction, as well as Bcl-xL levels increasing in recipient cells. Altogether, our results could open new perspectives for investigating the role of chemotherapy-elicited TEV in the colorectal cancer TME and their modulatory actions on promoting drug resistance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 1120-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladislav M. Chernov ◽  
Olga A. Chernova ◽  
Alexey A. Mouzykantov ◽  
Irina R. Efimova ◽  
Gulnara F. Shaymardanova ◽  
...  

Extracellular vesicle production is believed to be a ubiquitous process in bacteria, but the data on such a process in Mollicutes are absent. We report the isolation of ultramicroforms – extracellular vesicles from supernatants ofAcholeplasma laidlawiiPG8 (ubiquitous mycoplasma; the main contaminant of cell culture). Considering sizes, morphology, and ultrastructural organization, the ultramicroforms ofA. laidlawiiPG8 are similar to membrane vesicles of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. We demonstrate thatA. laidlawiiPG8 vesicles contain genetic material and proteins, and are mutagenic to lymphocytes of human peripheral blood. We show thatMycoplasma gallisepticumS6, the other mycoplasma, also produce similar structures, which suggests that shedding of the vesicles might be the common phenomenon in Mollicutes. We found that the action of stress conditions results in the intensive formation of ultramicroforms in mycoplasmas. The role of vesicular formation in mycoplasmas remains to be studied.


2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (9) ◽  
pp. 3794-3802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manzour Hernando Hazbón ◽  
Miriam Bobadilla del Valle ◽  
Marta Inírida Guerrero ◽  
Mandira Varma-Basil ◽  
Ingrid Filliol ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Mutations at position 306 of embB (embB306) have been proposed as a marker for ethambutol resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis; however, recent reports of embB306 mutations in ethambutol-susceptible isolates caused us to question the biological role of this mutation. We tested 1,020 clinical M. tuberculosis isolates with different drug susceptibility patterns and of different geographical origins for associations between embB306 mutations, drug resistance patterns, and major genetic group. One hundred isolates (10%) contained a mutation in embB306; however, only 55 of these mutants were ethambutol resistant. Mutations in embB306 could not be uniquely associated with any particular type of drug resistance and were found in all three major genetic groups. A striking association was observed between these mutations and resistance to any drug (P < 0.001), and the association between embB306 mutations and resistance to increasing numbers of drugs was highly significant (P < 0.001 for trend). We examined the association between embB306 mutations and IS6110 clustering (as a proxy for transmission) among all drug-resistant isolates. Mutations in embB306 were significantly associated with clustering by univariate analysis (odds ratio, 2.44; P = 0.004). In a multivariate model that also included mutations in katG315, katG463, gyrA95, and kasA269, only mutations in embB306 (odds ratio, 2.14; P = 0.008) and katG315 (odds ratio, 1.99; P = 0.015) were found to be independently associated with clustering. In conclusion, embB306 mutations do not cause classical ethambutol resistance but may predispose M. tuberculosis isolates to the development of resistance to increasing numbers of antibiotics and may increase the ability of drug-resistant isolates to be transmitted between subjects.


2019 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 645-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan J. Vechetti

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) were initially characterized as “garbage bags” with the purpose of removing unwanted material from cells. It is now becoming clear that EVs mediate intercellular communication between distant cells through a transfer of genetic material, a process important to the systemic adaptation in physiological and pathological conditions. Although speculative, it has been suggested that the majority of EVs that make it into the bloodstream would be coming from skeletal muscle, since it is one of the largest organs in the human body. Although it is well established that skeletal muscle secretes peptides (currently known as myokines) into the bloodstream, the notion that skeletal muscle releases EVs is in its infancy. Besides intercellular communication and systemic adaptation, EV release could represent the mechanism by which muscle adapts to certain stimuli. This review summarizes the current understanding of EV biology and biogenesis and current isolation methods and briefly discusses the possible role EVs have in regulating skeletal muscle mass.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (19) ◽  
pp. 4813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sevindzh Kletukhina ◽  
Olga Neustroeva ◽  
Victoria James ◽  
Albert Rizvanov ◽  
Marina Gomzikova

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process that takes place during embryonic development, wound healing, and under some pathological processes, including fibrosis and tumor progression. The molecular changes occurring within epithelial cells during transformation to a mesenchymal phenotype have been well studied. However, to date, the mechanism of EMT induction remains to be fully elucidated. Recent findings in the field of intercellular communication have shed new light on this process and indicate the need for further studies into this important mechanism. New evidence supports the hypothesis that intercellular communication between mesenchymal stroma/stem cells (MSCs) and resident epithelial cells plays an important role in EMT induction. Besides direct interactions between cells, indirect paracrine interactions by soluble factors and extracellular vesicles also occur. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are important mediators of intercellular communication, through the transfer of biologically active molecules, genetic material (mRNA, microRNA, siRNA, DNA), and EMT inducers to the target cells, which are capable of reprogramming recipient cells. In this review, we discuss the role of intercellular communication by EVs to induce EMT and the acquisition of stemness properties by normal and tumor epithelial cells.


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