Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Nov 27, 2018; 10(11): 785-789
Published online Nov 27, 2018. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v10.i11.785
Exosomal microRNAs as a potential therapeutic strategy in hepatocellular carcinoma
Angélique Gougelet
Angélique Gougelet, Inserm, U1016, Institut Cochin, Paris 75014, France
Angélique Gougelet, Cnrs, UMR8104, Paris 75014, France
Angélique Gougelet, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris 75006, France
Author contributions: Gougelet A constructed and wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author has no conflict of interest to declare. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Angélique Gougelet, PhD, Research Scientist, Inserm, U1016, Institut Cochin, 24, rue du Faubourg Saint Jacques, Paris 75014, France. angelique.gougelet@inserm.fr
Telephone: +33-14-4412446 Fax: +33-14-4412421
Received: August 2, 2018
Peer-review started: August 3, 2018
First decision: August 24, 2018
Revised: September 5, 2018
Accepted: October 10, 2018
Article in press: October 10, 2018
Published online: November 27, 2018
Processing time: 118 Days and 1.3 Hours
Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer and the second cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The incidence of HCC is constantly increasing in correlation with the rise in diabetes and obesity, arguing for an urgent need for new developments in the treatment of this lethal cancer. Exosomes are small double-membrane vesicles loaded with distinct cargos, particularly small non-coding RNAs called microRNAs, representative of each donor cell and secreted to affect the features of neighboring cells or recipient cells located further away, like in the case of metastasis. A better understanding of the role of exosomes with a microRNA signature in cancer pathogenesis gave rise to the concept of their use as a non-invasive diagnostic biomarker and in the treatment of cancer, including HCC. In this communication, we review recent works that demonstrate that hepatic stellate cells establish an epigenetic communication with liver cancer cells, which affects their pro-malignant features. If naturally secreted patient-derived exosomes show major limitations concerning their clinical use, bio-engineered exosome mimetics that incorporate controlled components and exhibit no protumoral properties could be promising carriers for the treatment of liver cancers, which is the organ preferentially targeted by systemic injection of exosomes.

Keywords: MicroRNAs; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Targeted therapy; Exosomes

Core tip: Despite the intensive research efforts to identify the molecular events responsible for the emergence of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a major health problem worldwide. Thus, the identification of new therapeutic opportunities to counteract the challenging issues linked to HCC heterogeneity and resistance to conventional treatments is a short-term necessity. Over the last few decades, microRNAs have appeared as interesting therapeutic strategies with their pleiotropic inhibitory action, but the use of a delivery system is a requirement for miRNA mimic administration. Exosomes, which are small vesicles naturally produced by immune cells and aberrantly by cancer cells, have recently emerged as a promising vehicle.