Exosomes are
cell-derived vesicles that contain
protein and
RNA from the same source and function. The vesicle has a diam-eter between 30 and 100 nm.
Exosomes are the natural carriers and have been recently used as
drug delivery system for
cancer treat-ment.
MicroRNAs (
miRNAs) function in
RNA silencing and
regulation of gene expression. They can exist as intracellular and extracellu-lar
miRNAs. Extracellular
miRNAs can function as secreted signaling molecules that
affect receptor
cell phenotype. They can also re-flect molecular changes in
donor cells. Therefore, extracellular
miRNAs can be potentially used for
diagnosis and
therapeutics. Studies show that the volume of
exosomes in
cancer patients'
blood is higher than that in normal controls. The
ability to package
cancer-relat-ed
miRNAs is a
biological function of
exosomes. In conclusion, specific
miRNAs transferred by
exosomes may
play an important
role in the pathogenesis of
tumor or
cancer. This
paper presents a summary of
research on
exosomes as the carrier of
miRNAs in the develop-ment and
treatment of
cancer.