Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequently invasive malignancy and the leading cause of tumor-related mortality among women worldwide. Cancer metastasis is a complex, multistage process, which eventually causes tumor cells to colonize and grow at the metastatic site. Distant organ metastases are the major obstacles to the management of advanced BC patients. Notably, exosomes are defined as specialized membrane-enclosed extracellular vesicles with specific biomarkers, which are found in a wide variety of body fluids. Recent studies have demonstrated that exosomes are essential mediators in shaping the tumor microenvironment and BC metastasis. The transferred tumor-derived exosomes modify the capability of invasive behavior and organ-specific metastasis in recipient cells. BC exosomal components, mainly including noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), proteins, lipids, are the most investigated components in BC metastasis. In this review, we have emphasized the multifaceted roles and mechanisms of tumor-derived exosomes in BC metastasis based on these important components. The underlying mechanisms mainly include the invasion behavior change, tumor vascularization, the disruption of the vascular barrier, and the colonization of the targeted organ. Understanding the significance of tumor-derived exosomal components in BC metastasis is critical for yielding novel routes of BC intervention.
1 January 2023 in International Journal of Biological Sciences
Diabetic wounds are characterized by delayed and incomplete healing. As one of the most common complications of diabetes, diabetic wounds can be fatal in some cases. Programmed cell death (PCD) is an active and ordered cell death mode determined by genes, including apoptosis, autophagy, pyroptosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, and cuproptosis. It is currently believed that PCD plays a crucial role in diabetic wound healing. Diabetic hyperglycemic environments can lead to abnormal PCD in various cells during healing processes, thereby affecting the activity and function of cells and interfering with diabetic wound healing. Therefore, this review focuses on the new roles and mechanisms of PCD in diabetic wound healing. Moreover, the challenges and perspectives related to PCD in diabetic wound healing are presented, which will bring new insights to improve diabetic wound healing.
Obesity is defined as a chronic disease induced by an imbalance of energy homeostasis. Obesity is a widespread health problem with increasing prevalence worldwide. Breast cancer (BC) has already been the most common cancer and one of the leading causes of cancer death in women worldwide. Nowadays, the impact of the rising prevalence of obesity has been recognized as a nonnegligible issue for BC development, outcome, and management. Adipokines, insulin and insulin-like growth factor, sex hormone and the chronic inflammation state play critical roles in the vicious crosstalk between obesity and BC. Furthermore, obesity can affect the efficacy and side effects of multiple therapies such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, immunotherapy and weight management of BC. In this review, we focus on the current landscape of the mechanisms of obesity in fueling BC and the impact of obesity on diverse therapeutic interventions. An in-depth exploration of the underlying mechanisms linking obesity and BC will improve the efficiency of the existing treatments and even provide novel treatment strategies for BC treatment.