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Cancer

Cancer exosomes promote tumorigenesis

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 14, page 16 (2015)Cite this article

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Exosomes — nano-vesicles secreted by multiple cell types, including cancer cells, which contain proteins, mRNA and microRNAs (miRNAs) — are believed to promote tumour growth and progression. Here, Melo et al. show that exosomes derived from cancer cells and serum from patients with breast cancer contain the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC)-loading complex proteins, Dicer, TAR RNA-binding protein 2 (TRBP) and Argonaute-2 (AGO2), and show capacity for cell-independent miRNA biogenesis. In cell culture and mice models, these cancer exosomes rapidly silence mRNAs to alter the transcriptome of recipient cells, stimulating non-tumorigenic epithelial cells to form tumours in a Dicer-dependent manner.

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References

  1. Melo, S. A. et al. Cancer exosomes perform cell-independent microRNA biogenesis and promote tumorigenesis. Cancer Cell 26, 707–721 (2014)

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  1. Sarah Crunkhorn
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Crunkhorn, S. Cancer exosomes promote tumorigenesis. Nat Rev Drug Discov 14, 16 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd4514

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