Exploring the key communicator role of exosomes in cancer microenvironment through proteomics

Abstract

There have been many attempts to fully understand the mechanism of cancer behavior. Yet, how cancers develop and metastasize still remain elusive. Emerging concepts of cancer biology in recent years have focused on the communication of cancer with its microenvironment, since cancer cannot grow and live alone. Cancer needs to communicate with other cells for survival, and thus they secrete various messengers, including exosomes that contain many proteins, miRNAs, mRNAs, etc., for construction of the tumor microenvironment. Moreover, these intercellular communications between cancer and its microenvironment, including stromal cells or distant cells, can promote tumor growth, metastasis, and escape from immune surveillance. In this review, we summarized the role of proteins in the exosome as communicators between cancer and its microenvironment. Consequently, we present cancer specific exosome proteins and their unique roles in the interaction between cancer and its microenvironment. Clinically, these exosomes might provide useful biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and therapeutic tools for cancer treatment.

Fig. 1

Schematic description of the extracellular vesicles, Exosomes are smallest extracellular vesicles (30-100nm) secreted from endosomes. Microvesicles are small vesicles (50-1,000nm), and apoptotic bodies are largest extracellular vesicles, both are originated from cell membrane

Fig. 2

Summarization of exosomal protein digestion methods. Exosomes from cell supernatant and body fluid are digested by (1) In-gel digestion (2) In-sol digestion and (3) FASP methods

Fig. 3

The function of cancer and other components of tumor microenvironment-derived exosome. Cancer-derived exosomes contain various types of proteins for immune suppression, cancer progression and metastasis