Extracellular Vesicles in Cancer: Exosomes, Microvesicles and the Emerging Role of Large Oncosomes
By Valentina R. Minciacchi, M. Freeman, D. Di Vizio. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2015
871 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Since their first description, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been the topic of avid study in a variety of physiologic contexts and are now thought to play an important role in cancer. The state of knowledge on biogenesis, molecular content and horizontal communication of diverse types of cancer EVs has expanded considerably in recent years. As a consequence, a plethora of information about EV composition and molecular pathways involved in the regulation of important biological processes has emerged, along with the notion that cancer cells rely on these particles to invade tissues and propagate oncogenic signals at distance. In vivo studies, designed to achieve a deeper understanding of the extent to which EV biology can be applied to clinically relevant settings, are increasing. This review will summarize recent studies on EVs functionally implicated in cancer, with a focus on a novel EV population referred to as large oncosomes, which originate from highly migratory, amoeboid tumor cells. Here we provide an overview about the biogenesis and composition of exosomes, microvesicles and large oncosomes, along with their cancer-specific and more general functions. We also discuss current challenges and emerging technologies that might improve EV detection in various systems. Further studies on the functional role of EVs in specific steps of cancer formation and progression will expand our understanding of the diversity of paracrine signaling mechanisms in malignant growth.
Subfields: Cancer Research, Molecular Biology
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4d156156eb09c89924ae74ee0e19d37d6a658392
How researchers see this paper
The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.
In Cancer Research
In Molecular Biology
Citations in the corpus
- Introduction to Extracellular Vesicles: Biogenesis, RNA Cargo Selection, Content, Release, and Uptake (2016, neutral): “EVs can be released by ''donor'' cells either through the outward budding of the plasma membrane, termed shedding microvesicles (MVs) or ectosomes (Minciacchi et al. 2015).”
- Extracellular Vesicles: Unique Intercellular Delivery Vehicles. (2017, background): “In cancer cells, even larger EVs (1–10 μm in diameter), termed large oncosomes, can bleb off the cell membrane [20,21].”
- Characteristics and Significance of the Pre-metastatic Niche. (2016, background): “EVs can be grouped into three major categories: exosomes (30–100 nm in diameter), microvesicles (100– 1,000 nm in diameter), and a newly identified cancer-derived EV population termed ‘‘large oncosomes’’ (1–10 mm in diameter) (Minciacchi et al., 2015).”