Tumor-Derived Exosomes Mediate the Instability of Cadherins and Promote Tumor Progression

Cadherins, including E-cadherin, N-cadherin, VE-cadherin, etc., are important adhesion molecules mediating intercellular junctions. The abnormal expression of cadherins is often associated with tumor development and progression. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the most important step in the metastasis cascade and is accompanied by altered expression of cadherins. Recent studies reveal that as a cargo for intercellular communication, exosomes-one type of extracellular vesicles that can be secreted by tumor cells-are involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes, especially in tumor metastasis. Tumor-derived exosomes play a crucial role in mediating the cadherin instability in recipient cells by transferring bioactive molecules (oncogenic microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), EMT-related proteins, and others), modulating their local and distant microenvironment, and facilitating cancer metastasis. In turn, aberrant expression of cadherins in carcinoma cells can also affect the biogenesis and release of exosomes. Therefore, we summarize the current research on the crosstalk between tumor-derived exosomes and aberrant cadherin signals to reveal the unique role of exosomes in cancer progression.

钙黏蛋白，包括E - 钙黏蛋白、N - 钙黏蛋白、血管内皮钙黏蛋白等，是介导细胞间连接的重要黏附分子。钙黏蛋白的异常表达通常与肿瘤的发生和进展相关。上皮 - 间质转化（EMT）是转移级联中最重要的步骤，并且伴随着钙黏蛋白表达的改变。近期研究表明，外泌体作为一种细胞间通讯的载体，是一种可由肿瘤细胞分泌的细胞外囊泡，参与多种生理和病理过程，尤其是在肿瘤转移中。肿瘤来源的外泌体通过转移生物活性分子（致癌微小RNA（miRNAs）和长链非编码RNA（lncRNAs）、上皮 - 间质转化相关蛋白等），调节受体细胞局部和远处的微环境，促进癌症转移，在介导受体细胞中钙黏蛋白不稳定方面起着至关重要的作用。反过来，癌细胞中钙黏蛋白的异常表达也会影响外泌体的生成和释放。因此，我们总结了目前关于肿瘤来源的外泌体与异常钙黏蛋白信号之间相互作用的研究，以揭示外泌体在癌症进展中的独特作用。