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Updated: Apr 21, 2026

Preparation of Exosomes for siRNA Delivery to Cancer Cells
Published on: December 5, 2018
Formation and role of exosomes in cancer
Lindsey T Brinton1, Hillary S Sloane, Mark Kester
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, PO Box 800759 Health System, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA, lat4r@virginia.edu.
Abstract:
Exosomes offer new insight into cancer biology with both diagnostic and therapeutic implications. Because of their cell-to-cell communication, exosomes influence tumor progression, metastasis, and therapeutic efficacy. They can be isolated from blood and other bodily fluids to reveal disease processes occurring within the body, including cancerous growth. In addition to being a reservoir of cancer biomarkers, they can be re-engineered to reinstate tumor immunity. Tumor exosomes interact with various cells of the microenvironment to confer tumor-advantageous changes that are responsible for stromal activation, induction of the angiogenic switch, increased vascular permeability, and immune escape. Exosomes also contribute to metastasis by aiding in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and formation of the pre-metastatic niche. Furthermore, exosomes protect tumor cells from the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy drugs and transfer chemoresistance properties to nearby cells. Thus, exosomes are essential to many lethal elements of cancer and it is important to understand their biogenesis and role in cancer.
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