The Application of Exosomes in the Development and Diagnosis and Treatment of Cervical Cancer / 中国生物化学与分子生物学报

ABSTRACT

Cervical cancer, as the second malignant female cancer, remains a major public health problem worldwide. Exosomes, nanometer-sized extracellular vesicles enveloped in a lipid bilayer membrane, are released by living cells and carry a variety of proteins, lipids, DNA, RNA(including mRNA, miRNA, lncRNA and circRNA) and other biologically active substances. As a novel intercellular communication molecule, exosomes are not only involved in biological processes such as signaling and substance exchange, but also play an important role in the process of the occurrence and development of cervical cancer such as regulating the tumor microenvironment to participate in HPV infection and the immune escape, promoting tumor cell proliferation and blood vessel formation, and regulating the invasion and metastasis of tumor. Exosomes with stability structure, are secreted by cervical cells of different lesion degrees, are ubiquitous in various biological fluids and can be enriched in cervicovaginal lavage sample fluid and plasma, thus it is expected to be a new type of liquid biopsy marker for the early diagnosis of cervical cancer. In addition, exosomes have the characteristics of low immunogenicity, good stability and strong penetration, which can overcome many shortcomings such as low bioavailability and enhance the targeting and drug effect of drugs while reducing non-targeted cytotoxicity and immunogenicity, thus it has the potential to be a new generation of drugs or drug carriers for tumor targeted therapy. This article reviews the latest research on the role of exosomes in the development of cervical cancer and the relevant clinical applications, aiming to provide the basis for novel biomarker for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer.