外泌体在肿瘤中的功能和应用研究进展

Progress of exosomes function and application in cancer

外泌体是晚期内体出芽形成的由脂质双分子层包裹的纳米级胞外小泡,几乎所有细胞均可主动分泌。外泌体能够有效地将所携带的具有生物活性的蛋白质、脂质以及核酸运输至不同的受体细胞,从而改变受体细胞的生物活动。对于外泌体在肿瘤中功能及应用的研究才刚刚起步,多种证据表明外泌体参与了肿瘤形成、肿瘤血管形成、肿瘤耐药性、肿瘤免疫逃逸以及肿瘤转移等多个肿瘤相关进程。外泌体不仅有可能作为载体安全、有效地运输药物,还可作为肿瘤的生物标记与治疗靶点参与到肿瘤的诊治中。本文对目前外泌体及其在肿瘤中的功能与应用的主要研究进展进行总结。

Exosomes, nano-sized extracellular vesicles with lipid bilayer are formed by inward budding of late endosomes and can be released actively by almost any kind of cells to the out space. The cargos exosomes harbor consisting mainly of biologically active proteins, lipids and nucleic acids can be effectively delivered by exosomes to different cells and change the biological activities of recipient cells. Their role in the regula- tion of tumor malignancy is just beginning to be appreciated. Multiple lines of evidence have indicated that exosomes participate in promoting tumorigenesis, tumor angiopoiesis, drug resistance, immune escape and metastasis. Given all that, besides being drug delivery vehicles, exosomes also turn out to be promising bio- markers for cancer and even a new target for cancer therapy. In this review, we will summarize recent progress in exosomes with an emphasis of tumor-associated exsomes and their potential applications in tumor treat- ments.