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Editorial
. 2017 Nov;9(11):4295-4299.
doi: 10.21037/jtd.2017.10.24.

Exosomes: recruits for tumour surveillance?

Affiliations
Editorial

Exosomes: recruits for tumour surveillance?

Francesco Pezzella. J Thorac Dis. 2017 Nov.
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The author has no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Exosomes formation and uptake. Based on references (2-4). (A) Exosomes (orange) are formed inside the endosomes and are lined by cellular membrane (blue). Endosomes-containing exosomes are called Microvesicular Membrane: as their membrane fuses with the cell membrane the exosomes are released; (B) exosomes are than uptake by a second cell through endocytosis. This process is clathrin-independent and is mediated by other molecules like Caveolin, Fotillin1 and RhoA.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A hypothetical mechanism by which fibroblasts could participate in cancer surveillance. Based on references (15,23). (A) PAF (normal tissue fibroblasts, yellow) secretes exosomes (in yellow) containing tumour suppressor factors like miRNA-320a. An early transformed cell is present (orange) but is still unable to induce fibroblasts stimulation. The uptake of exosomes containing suppressor factors could contributes to maintain the cell quiescent or could even induce apoptosis; (B) transformed cells, which have acquired further damages and a more neoplastic phenotypes (in red) are now able to secreted fibroblasts activating factors. The activated fibroblasts (green) secrete now exosomes with lower levels of miRNA320a (also in green) and therefore their suppressive ability is diminished, giving to the neoplastic cells further advantage.

Comment on

References

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