bims-exocan 2025-08-03 papers

Issue of 2025–08–03
five papers selected by
Muhammad Rizwan, COMSATS University

Urol Oncol. 2025 Jul 31. pii: S1078-1439(25)00261-3. [Epub ahead of print]

Exosome: The hidden messengers in cancer detection and immunotherapy.

Cancer continues to pose a significant global health challenge, driving the need for innovative approaches in early detection and treatment management. Exosomes, small extracellular vesicles secreted by various cell types, play a pivotal role in intercellular communication by transferring molecular cargo between donor and recipient cells. They have emerged as key players in cancer progression and therapy. Exosomes contribute to tumor growth by mediating immune suppression, drug resistance, and metastasis. Yet, their distinctive properties also present them as valuable tools for cancer diagnosis. Tumor-derived exosomes, abundant in body fluids, are promising candidates for liquid biopsies, offering non-invasive biomarkers that can aid in cancer detection, prognosis, and real-time monitoring of disease progression. Beyond diagnostics, exosomes are at the forefront of cancer immunotherapy, particularly in developing exosome-based vaccines and targeted therapies. Their capacity to deliver molecular cargo directly to cancer or immune cells allows personalized and highly effective cancer treatments. This review explores the current understanding of exosomes in cancer biology, underscores their emerging diagnostic potential, and examines their transformative role in advancing future cancer immunotherapy strategies.

Keywords: Cancer diagnosis; Cancer progression; Exosome; Immunotherapy; Liquid biopsy; Targeted therapies; Tumor-derived exosomes

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urolonc.2025.07.006

J Cell Mol Med. 2025 Jul;29(14): e70723

Exosomes in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Comprehensive Review of Current Research and Future Directions.

Subham Sarkar, Ashok Kumar Bishoyi, R Roopashree, Vishal Thakur, Manpreet Kaur, Pusparghya Pal, Taha Alqahtani, Ali Alqahtani, Daniel Ejim Uti, Esther Ugo Alum.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common form of liver cancer that is deadly and offers limited possible treatment options. This short review explored the role of exosomes (small vesicles released by cells) in HCC as either diagnostic or therapeutic possibilities. Exosomes facilitate tumour growth by carrying tumour-supportive material to promote angiogenesis and metastasis. At the same time, exosomes may serve as a tumour biomarker for early diagnosis or prognostic possibilities in HCC. In the future, exosomes may be used as targeted therapies for HCC patients by enabling engineered exosomes to deliver therapeutics to tumour cells with more specificity and lower side effects. Lastly, this review discussed exosome isolation and characterisation techniques, engineering engineered exosomes for therapeutics and clinical trials using exosomes as HCC treatment options. Many challenges remain, including scale of production and standardisation aspects; the future development of exosome therapeutics appears promising. This review underscores the importance of continuing research towards improving exosome technologies and using exosomes in combination therapies, as they may help develop safer and more efficient ways to improve HCC care.

Keywords: clinical trials in HCC; exosome therapy; exosome‐based diagnostics; hepatocellular carcinoma; isolation techniques for exosomes; tumour diagnostics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcmm.70723

Tzu Chi Med J. 2025 Jul-Sep;37(3):37(3): 235-246

Exosomal long noncoding RNAs and microRNAs in colorectal cancer.

Yun Yen, Tang-Yuan Chu, Ruo-Chia Tseng.

This review focuses on the multifaceted roles of exosomal noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) in colorectal cancer (CRC), utilizing the provided document as the primary source of information. Exosomes, nanoscale vesicles ranging from 30 to 150 nm, act as crucial mediators of intercellular communication, encapsulating bioactive molecules such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs). The biogenesis of exosomes involves the endocytic pathway, including the formation of multivesicular bodies and subsequent release of intraluminal vesicles into the extracellular space. This process is regulated by the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery and other ESCRT-independent mechanisms, as well as RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) that selectively package ncRNAs. MiRNAs, shorter single-stranded RNA molecules, regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally by binding to target mRNAs, leading to translational repression or mRNA degradation. LncRNAs, longer RNA molecules, are involved in chromatin remodeling and transcriptional regulation and act as competing endogenous RNAs that modulate miRNA availability. Exosomal ncRNAs play a crucial role in tumorigenesis, where certain miRNAs promote proliferation while others act as tumor suppressors. Furthermore, these ncRNAs are central to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, a critical process that facilitates metastasis. They also play a role in chemoresistance by modulating drug metabolism and apoptotic pathways. Exosomal ncRNAs also show promise as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers due to their presence in body fluids and their association with disease progression. Moreover, they hold potential as therapeutic agents through RNA-based therapeutics and exosome-based drug delivery. The challenges involve standardizing exosome research, elucidating the underlying mechanisms, and ensuring successful clinical translation.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Colorectal cancer; Exosomal ncRNAs; Long noncoding RNAs; MicroRNAs

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_62_25

Future Oncol. 2025 Jul 29. 1-16

Association of exosomal miR17-92a cluster and target genes with breast cancer risk.

Ambreen Parvaiz, Azhar Mehmood, Muhammad Saeed, Mahmood Akhtar Kayani, Ishrat Mahjabeen.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to explore the roles of exosomal microRNAs (miR-17, miR-19b, and miR-92a) and two target genes (PTEN and TGFβR2) in breast cancer risk.
METHODS: Expression analysis was performed using real-time PCR in a study cohort of 500 patients and 500 age- and sex-matched healthy controls.
RESULTS: The selected miRNAs (miR-17, p < 0.01; miR-19b, p < 0.01; miR-92a, p < 0.01) and TGFβR2 (p < 0.01) revealed an upregulated expression pattern, whereas downregulation of PTEN (p < 0.05) was observed in cancer patients compared to controls. A significant upregulated expression of miR-17, miR-92a, and TGFβR2 was observed in advanced clinical stages, advanced T-stage, advanced N-stage, and advanced M-stage in breast cancer patients.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate the oncogenic potential of the selected miRNAs, contributing to breast carcinogenesis. Further analysis showed an association between the expression deregulation of the selected molecules and increased cell proliferation and metastasis. miR-17 and TGFβR2 showed good diagnostic potential with AUCs of 0.708 and 0.909, respectively.

Keywords: Breast cancer; PTEN; TGFβR2; exosomes; miR-17; miR-19b; miR-92a

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14796694.2025.2539627

Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2025 Jul 19. pii: 568. [Epub ahead of print]47(7):

Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Exosomes Upregulate PIK3/AKT, PTEN, and NOTCH Signaling Pathways in Normal Fibroblasts.

Dijana Mitic, Milica Jaksic Karisik, Milos Lazarevic, Jelena Carkic, Emilia Zivkovic, Olivera Mitrovic Ajtic, Jelena Milasin.

Exosomes, small extracellular vesicles secreted by various cell types, have gained significant attention in cancer investigations. Isolation and characterization of exosomes derived from DOK (dysplastic oral keratinocyte), SCC (squamous cell carcinoma) and HaCaT (normal skin keratinocyte) cell lines and microRNA profiling were conducted. Magnetic sorting was applied to obtain pure exosomes. Morphology and size were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and nanoparticle tracking analysis. Validation of membrane exosomal markers (CD9, CD63) was performed via Western blotting. MiR-21, miR-31, and miR-133 levels were analyzed in exosomes and parent cells by qPCR. Biological effects of the exosomes were tested by adding them to fibroblast cultures and determining the expression of relevant carcinogenesis markers by qPCR. Exosomes appeared as cup-shaped nano-sized particles, and there was no difference regarding particle diameter and concentration between the three types of exosomes. The oncogenic miR-21 was significantly upregulated both in SCC and SCC-derived exosomes compared to DOK and HaCaT cells and their respective exosomes. However, miR-31 unexpectedly showed the highest expression in normal cells and the lowest in HaCaT exosomes. MiR-133, the tumor suppressor miRNA, was downregulated in both SCC and DOK cells compared to normal (HaCaT) cells, while the opposite situation was observed in exosomes, with HaCaT cells showing the lowest levels of miR-133. The differences in exosome content were reflected in signaling pathway activation in exosome-treated fibroblasts, with SCC exosomes exerting the most potent effect on several cancer-related pathways, notably PIK3/AKT, PTEN, and NOTCH signaling cascades.

Keywords: NTA; TEM analysis; dysplastic cells; exosomes; fibroblasts; gene expression; magnetic sorting; microRNAs; oral cancer cells

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb47070568