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World J Stem Cells. Jul 26, 2026; 18(7): 119892
Published online Jul 26, 2026. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.119892
Published online Jul 26, 2026. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.119892
Regulatory T cell-derived exosomes regulate β-catenin expression to promote the stem cell-like properties of hepatocellular carcinoma
Yi-Jun Tu, Department of Pharmacy, Central Hospital of Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116033, Liaoning Province, China
Yun-Qi Liu, Hong-Yang Cai, Yan-Yan Pan, Chang Liu, Central Laboratory, Central Hospital of Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116033, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Tu YJ conducted the experiments and was responsible for data collection and analysis; Liu YQ, Cai HY, and Pan YY assisted with the experimental work; Liu C conceived the study, designed the research, analyzed the data, and wrote and revised the manuscript. All authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82303572; Department of Science & Technology of Liaoning Province, No. 2024-MS-285; and Hospital Initiated Project of “Liaoning Province Key Specialty”, No. 2023SZ015.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shenzhen People’s Hospital (Approval No. LL-KY-2020171).
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All animal experiments were approved by the Laboratory Animal Ethics Committee of Central Hospital of Dalian University of Technology, No. 2023-014-11.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the Figshare repository, https://10.6084/m9.figshare.31129933.
Corresponding author: Chang Liu, PhD, Affiliate Associate Professor, Central Laboratory, Central Hospital of Dalian University of Technology, No. 826 Southwest Road, Dalian 116033, Liaoning Province, China. liuch2024@dlut.edu.cn
Received: February 10, 2026
Revised: February 27, 2026
Accepted: April 3, 2026
Published online: July 26, 2026
Processing time: 165 Days and 4.1 Hours
Revised: February 27, 2026
Accepted: April 3, 2026
Published online: July 26, 2026
Processing time: 165 Days and 4.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: In our previous study, we demonstrated that regulatory T (Treg) cells increase the population of tumor-initiating cells in hepatocellular carcinoma by suppressing forkhead box P3 and enhancing β-catenin expression. However, it remained unclear whether Treg cells exert these effects through exosomes and which specific components within Treg-derived exosomes are responsible. In this study, we revealed that exosomal long non-coding RNA Flicr, derived from Treg cells, suppresses forkhead box P3 and glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta expression and activates the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, thereby promoting stem cell-like properties in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.