Mesenchymal stem cell‑derived exosomes loaded with 5‑Fu against cholangiocarcinoma in vitro

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an intractable malignant tumour with a high degree of malignancy that is asymptomatic in the early stages. Exosomes have been shown in numerous studies in recent years to be effective delivery vehicles for chemotherapy drugs to suppress tumour proliferation and growth in vivo and in vitro. In order to explore the inhibition of 5‑fluorouracil (5‑Fu)‑loaded exosomes on CCA growth, the present study used human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell‑derived exosomes, as well as incubation and sonication methods for 5‑Fu loading into exosomes, to treat CCA in vitro. The findings demonstrated that exosomes isolated from mesenchymal stem cells have typical exosome characteristics. Both the incubation and sonication methods successfully loaded 5‑Fu into the exosomes (5‑Fu‑Exos), with the sonication method having a higher loading efficiency than the incubation method. When compared to the free 5‑Fu group, the 5‑Fu‑Exos group significantly inhibited the viability of CCA cells (P<0.01), indicating that 5‑Fu‑Exos can be an effective chemotherapy drug for CCA treatment.