Table 2.

Dual role of MSC exosomes in the context of cancer therapy

Donor cells	Cell line/condition	Exosome content	Function	Pathway	Ref
Promoting effect
BM-MSCs	MM	miR-15a	Enhanced MM cell proliferation (animal study)	n.a	[159]
MSCs	BRCA cells	miR-222/223	Supported the survival and growth of cancer cells (in vitro study)	Promoted quiescence in a subset of cancer cells and confers drug resistance	[160]
AT-MSCs	HUVECs	miR-125a	Promoted angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo	Repressed the expression of the angiogenic inhibitor delta-like 4 (DLL4)	[111]
AT-MSCs	Breast cancer MCF7 cells	n.a	Promoted MCF7 migration (in vitro study)	Activating Wnt signaling pathway	[161]
BM-MSCs	Osteosarcoma MG63 and gastric SGC7901 cells	n.a	Supported MG63 and SGC7901 cell growth (in vitro study)	Activating Hedgehog signaling pathway	[162]
AT-MSCs	HMEC	c-KIT and SCF	Induced angiogenesis (animal study)	Promoted survival, migration, and angiogenesis	[140]
MSCs	Gastric cancer	n.a	Stimulated the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells ex vivo (animal study)	Activation of the Akt pathway	[163]
AT-MSCs	Glioblastoma U87MG cells line	n.a	Induced cell proliferation (in vitro study)	n.a	[164]
GC-MSCs	Gastric cancer cells	miR-214, miR-221, and miR-222	Promoted tumor proliferation and migration (in vitro study)	Downregulating several tumor suppressor target genes	[165]
Inhibitory effect
MSCs	Breast cancer cells	miR-379	Inhibition of angiogenesis, tumor amplification, and metastasis (in vitro study)	Regulation of COX-2 mRNA and protein	[166]
UC-MSCs BM-MSCs	Glioblastoma U87MG cells	n.a	Decreased cell proliferation and induced apoptosis of glioblastoma cells (in vitro study)	n.a	[164]
MSCs	Gastric cancer	n.a	Induced drug resistance in gastric cancer cells (animal study)	Triggered the activation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases (CaM-Ks) and Raf/MEK/ERK kinase cascade	[167]
BM-MSCs	Glioma	miR-146b	Reduced glioma cell invasion, migration, viability, and expression of EGFR (animal study)	Decreased EGFR and inhibited NF-B, as well as its upstream regulator TRAF6	[168]
MSCs	Breast cancer	miR-16	Suppressed angiogenesis (animal study)	Downregulated VEGF expression in tumor cells in vitro and in vivo	[169]
WJ-MSCs	Burkitts lymphoma cells	miR-34a and let-7 family	Arrested cell division of lymphoma cells in the S phase and induced apoptosis by using oxidative stress pathways (in vitro study)	Alteration of antioxidant enzymes	[170]
AT-MSCs	Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)	miR-122	Increased the sensitivity of HCC cells to chemotherapeutic agents and induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest (animal study)	Reduced expression of cyclin G1 (CCNG1 ) and inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway	[171]
BM-MSCs	Breast cancer	miR-23b	Induced dormant phenotypes (animal study)	Suppression of MARCKS gene	[172]
MSCs	Breast cancer cells	miR-100	Suppressed angiogenesis (in vitro study)	Modulated the mTOR/HIF-1/VEGF signaling axis	[173]
WJ-MSCs	Bladder cancer cells	n.a	Inhibited proliferative viability and induced apoptosis (in vitro study)	Downregulated phosphorylation of Akt and upregulated cleaved Caspase 3	[174]
BM-MSCs	Oral cancer	miR-101-3p	Inhibited proliferation, invasion, migration, and tumor growth (animal study)	Downregulated type X collagen gene	[175]
BM-MSCs	Leukemia THP-1 cells	miR-222-3p	Inhibited cell proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis (in vitro study)	Negatively regulating IRF2-INPP4B signaling	[176]
AT-MSCs	Ovarian A2780 and SKOV-3 cancer cells	miRNAs	Inhibited the proliferation and growth (in vitro study)	Upregulated pro-apoptotic proteins, as well as downregulated the anti-apoptotic protein	[177]

Note: BM bone marrow, AT adipose tissue, UC umbilical cord, WJ Whartons jelly, miRs microRNAs, GC-MSCs gastric cancer-derived MSCs, MM multiple myeloma, HMEC human microvascular endothelial cells, HUVECs human umbilical vein endothelial cells, MARCKS myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate, IRF2-INPP4B interferon-regulatory factor 2 -inositol polyphosphate-4-phosphatase type-II, n.a not available