"VSports app下载" Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The . gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in VSports app下载. gov or . mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site. .

Https

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely V体育官网. .

Review
. 2025 Jun 20;21(9):4187-4214.
doi: 10.7150/ijbs.114222. eCollection 2025.

Decoding the Tumor Microenvironment: Exosome-Mediated Macrophage Polarization and Therapeutic Frontiers

Affiliations
Review

VSports - Decoding the Tumor Microenvironment: Exosome-Mediated Macrophage Polarization and Therapeutic Frontiers

Yilin Li et al. Int J Biol Sci. .

Abstract (VSports)

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is dynamically shaped by interactions between tumor cells, immune cells, and stromal components. Among these, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play dual roles in tumor progression. Exosomes are key mediators of intercellular communication and are crucial for modulating macrophage polarization. This review systematically summarizes the role of HIF-1α as the central regulator of tumor-derived exosomes under hypoxic conditions. Under endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS), the STAT3 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways activation is mediated by the inactivation of the Hsp90/Hippo pathway, which induces the expression of LncRNA HMMR-AS1 and specific miRNAs (e. g. , miR-1246, let-7a, miR-301a-3p, etc. ). Furthermore, the IRE1/PERK pathway regulates exosome secretion by carrying miR-23a-3p and miR-27a-3p or directly delivering PD-L1 protein, thus activating the PI3K/AKT pathway, inhibiting PTEN, and upregulating PD-L1 expression as well as increasing the M2 polarization of macrophages. This study also summarized the important matrices of exosomes' involvement in the interaction between tumor cells and macrophages in different systemic malignant tumors. Moreover, the bidirectional crosstalk between TAM-derived exosomes and other TME components (e. g. , CD8+ T cells, fibroblasts) was also evaluated, which indicated their roles in immune evasion and metastasis VSports手机版. Further, engineering strategies, such as receptor-targeted exosomes and short palindromic repeats interference (CRISPRi)-based transcriptional silencing, were also discussed as emerging tools to enhance exosome specificity and therapeutic efficacy. This study proposes a roadmap for translating engineered exosomes into clinical immunotherapy regimens by integrating recent advances in spatial omics and artificial intelligence, and also addresses challenges in exosome isolation, stability, and biosafety. .

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

Figures (V体育平台登录)

Figure 1
Figure 1
The two polarization types of macrophages and the production process of exosomes. Under the influence of different factors, macrophages are polarized into M1 or M2, and have a promoting or inhibiting effect on tumor cells. In this process, regulatory factors such as exosome-derived proteins and non-coding RNAs play an important role. In macrophages and tumor cells, exosomes encapsulate contents through membrane structures, most of which are decomposed by lysosomes, and some small vesicles are secreted to the extracellular space as mediators to participate in the above-mentioned intercellular interactions. (The Figure was drawn with the help of www.figdraw.com).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Exosomes in the TME are involved in the interaction between tumor cells and macrophages. In the TME, exosomes produce complex interactions between tumor cells and macrophages under the action of factors such as HIF-1α. In tumor cells, due to ERS, the abnormal expression of corresponding ERS markers affects the contents of exosomes, affects the release of exosomes, and thus affects the cell interaction in TME. The intercellular communication medium of exosomes can indicate the crosstalk between tumor cells and macrophages and the complex biological behaviors in TME in real time. Exosome monitoring can help further understand the intercellular communication of TME to provide a basis for tumor immunotherapy. (The Figure was drawn with the help of www.figdraw.com).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Exosomes in the TME are involved in the interaction between other cells and macrophages. Exosomes are widely involved in the exchange of information and material between the components of TME. CD8+ T cells, CAFs, neutrophils, and mesenchymal stem cells are also involved in the interaction between tumor cells and macrophages. These exosomes and their contents can provide an overall understanding of the crosstalk between the components of TME. (The Figure was drawn with the help of www.figdraw.com).
Figure 4
Figure 4
The application of engineered exosome strategies in TME research. Exosomes are extracted from human blood, saliva, urine, etc., and modified by engineering materials methods to effectively improve the drug loading rate, targeting, and biofilm penetration of exosome therapy, and improve the effect of tumor immunotherapy. (The Figure was drawn with the help of www.figdraw.com).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic diagram of engineering materials science methods for modifying exosomes. In specific engineering strategies, cell surface receptors can be loaded on the membrane structure of exosomes, or gene editing can be used to modify exosomes to improve their targeting. Furthermore, chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs can be loaded into exosomes to combine the advantages of nanoparticles to improve the therapeutic effect of drugs. (The Figure was drawn with the help of www.figdraw.com).

References

    1. Sica A, Mantovani A. Macrophage plasticity and polarization: in vivo veritas. The Journal of clinical investigation. 2012;122:787–95. - PMC (VSports最新版本) - PubMed
    1. Locati M, Curtale G, Mantovani A. Diversity, Mechanisms, and Significance of Macrophage Plasticity. Annual review of pathology. 2020;15:123–47. - PMC (V体育平台登录) - PubMed
    1. Murray PJ. Macrophage Polarization. Annual review of physiology. 2017;79:541–66. - PubMed
    1. Chen S, Saeed A, Liu Q, Jiang Q, Xu H, Xiao GG. et al. Macrophages in immunoregulation and therapeutics. Signal transduction and targeted therapy. 2023;8:207. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Boutilier AJ, Elsawa SF. Macrophage Polarization States in the Tumor Microenvironment. Int J Mol Sci. 2021;22:6995. - PMC - PubMed

"V体育官网入口" Publication types

MeSH terms