Extracellular vesicles and oncogenic signaling

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) emerged as potential diagnostic and prognostic markers for cancer therapy. This review summarizes mechanisms of signaling specificity and cargo transfer by EVs in the oncogenic and cancer‐associated signaling cascades Wnt, TGF‐β, ErbB, VEGF, and PD1–PD‐L1. Translatable EV functions and existing knowledge gaps are discussed to possibly further exploit EVs for diagnostics and therapeutic approaches in the future.

Abstract

In recent years, extracellular vesicles (EVs) emerged as potential diagnostic and prognostic markers for cancer therapy. While the field of EV research is rapidly developing and their application as vehicles for therapeutic cargo is being tested, little is still known about the exact mechanisms of signaling specificity and cargo transfer by EVs, especially in vivo. Several signaling cascades have been found to use EVs for signaling in the tumor–stroma interaction. These include potentially oncogenic, verbatim transforming, signaling cascades such as Wnt and TGF‐β signaling, and other signaling cascades that have been tightly associated with tumor progression and metastasis, such as PD‐L1 and VEGF signaling. Multiple mechanisms of how these signaling cascades and EVs interplay to mediate these complex processes have been described, such as direct signal activation through pathway components on or in EVs or indirectly by influencing vesicle biogenesis, cargo sorting, or uptake dynamics. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of EVs, their biogenesis, and our understanding of EV interactions with recipient cells with a focus on selected oncogenic and cancer‐associated signaling pathways. After an in‐depth look at how EVs mediate and influence signaling, we discuss potentially translatable EV functions and existing knowledge gaps.