Theranostics 2022; 12(1):87-104. doi:10.7150/thno.64096 This issue Cite
Review
1. Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, Ministry of Education, Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
2. School of Basic Medicine, Health Science Center, Yangtze University, 1 Nanhuan Road, Jingzhou, Hubei 434023, China.
3. Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Administration, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai 201203, China.
4. Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 117600 Singapore.
5. Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore, 117599 Singapore.
6. Department of Haematology-Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore 119228, Singapore.
* Juan Li and Guo Zhang contributed equally to this work.
Exosomes are multifunctional regulators of intercellular communication by carrying various messages under both physiological and pathological status of cancer patients. Accumulating studies have identified the presence of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in exosomes with crucial regulatory roles in diverse pathophysiological processes. Exosomal circRNAs derived from donor cells can modulate crosstalk with recipient cells locally or remotely to enhance cancer development and propagation, and play crucial roles in the tumor microenvironment (TME), leading to significant enhancement of tumor immunity, metabolism, angiogenesis, drug resistance, epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion and metastasis. In this review, we describe the advances of exosomal circRNAs and their roles in modulating cancer hallmarks, especially those in the TME. Moreover, clinical application potential of exosomal circRNAs in cancer diagnosis and therapy are highlighted, bridging the gap between basic knowledge and clinical practice.
Keywords: Exosome, circular RNAs, tumor microenvironment, diagnosis, cancer therapy.