Guest Editor(s)
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- Dr. William C. S. Cho
- Department of Clinical Oncology, QEH, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Website | E-mail
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- Prof. Kenneth K. W. To
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Website | E-mail
Special Issue Introduction
Exosomes are nano-sized extracellular vesicles with endosomal origin. They are secreted from diverse cell types upon the fusion of multivesicular bodies with the plasma membrane. Exosomes facilitate intercellular communication by transferring mRNAs, non-coding RNAs and proteins from donor to recipient cells. Accumulating evidence indicates that the molecules incorporated in exosomes are biologically active when taken up by the recipient cells and they play a major role in many cellular processes.
Tumor-derived exosomes have been shown to mediate the intercellular transfer of pro-tumorigenic factors into the tumor microenvironment. They promote proliferation, angiogenesis and invasion in the recipient cells to support cancer survival and a metastatic phenotype. Importantly, drug-sensitive cancer cells could acquire drug resistance after taking up exosomes secreted from drug-resistant cancer cells. Exosomes were also shown to mediate immunosuppression, thereby affecting the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. On the other hand, the potential use of exosomes as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in various cancers has been proposed. Interestingly, with the intercellular communication property, exosomes have also been exploited as novel drug delivery systems to target drug-resistant cancer cells.
This special issue aims to compile a collection of updated research, review and expert opinion articles about the emerging role of cancer exosomes on cancer drug resistance. The aberrant biogenesis of exosomes in resistant-cancer cells, their prognostic significance and the utilization of exosomes as a novel drug delivery system to overcome drug resistance will be covered.
Sub-topics:
● Exosome-mediated intercellular cross-talk within the tumor microenvironment
● Prognostic utility of tumor exosomes in cancer chemotherapy
● Exosomes and cancer immunotherapy
● Exosome as a novel drug delivery system for overcoming chemoresistance
● Extracellular vesicles as potential biomarkers in cancer drug resistance
Keywords
Chemoresistance, cell-to-cell communication, exosome, extracellular vesicle, tumor microenvironment, prognostic biomarkers
Submission Deadline
31 Dec 2022
Cancer Drug Resistance
