Table 3.
Exosomal ncRNAs of tumor cells or TAMs remodel the tumor immune microenvironment
| Exosomal ncRNAs | Immune cells | Mechanism | Effect | Cancer type | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| miR-21 miR-29a |
DCs | bind to TLRs to induce primary inflammation | tumor growth and metastasis | NSCLC | Fabbri et al.140 |
| miR-203 | DCs | bind to TLR4 to induce primary inflammation and reduce the expression of cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-12 | inhibit DC maturation and Th1 differentiation to reduce cellular immunity | PC | Zhou et al.141 |
| miR-212-3p | DCs | suppress RFXAP to induce MHC II downregulation | enhance immune tolerance in DCs | PC | Ding et al.142 |
| Exosomes | DCs | / | regulate DC maturation | melanoma | Maus et al.143 |
| Exosomes | DCs | / | inhibit DC differentiation and stimulate MDSC differentiation to promote tumor progression | / | Condamine and Gabrilovich144 |
| miR146a | T cells | / | stimulate M2 polarization and inhibit anti-HCC T cell activity | HCC | Yin et al.39 |
| Exosomes | T cells | / | Decrease the release of antitumor factors such as IFN-γ, IL-2, and IL-17 from CD4+ and CD8+ T cells | nasopharyngeal carcinoma | Ye et al.145 |
| miR-23a | T cells | downregulate the target gene BLIMP-1 | suppress CD8+ T cell function | advanced lung cancer | Lin et al.146 |
| miR-34a | T cells | suppress TGF-β | inhibit CD8+ T cell function and recruit Tregs to the TIME | HCC | Yang et al.147 |
| miR-24-3p | T cells | target FGF11 | stimulate Tregs and inhibit T cell proliferation and Th1 and Th17 differentiation; | nasopharyngeal carcinoma | Ye et al.148 |
| Hypoxia miR-210 | T cells | target HIF1α | promote Th17 differentiation of T cells and promote tumor immune escape | / | Wang et al.149 |
| Exosomes | T cells | uptake by T lymphocytes to activate p38 MAPK | induce ER stress-mediated apoptosis of T lymphocytes and lead to immunosuppression | PC | Shen et al.150 |
| miR-21 (TAM) | T cells | regulate PEG3 | decrease CD8+ T cell proliferation and cytotoxic activity to accelerate immune escape and cancer cell growth, migration, and invasion; inhibit apoptosis to enhance tumor volume decrease | glioma | Yang et al.151 |
| lncRNA PCED1B-AS1 | T cells | sponge hsa-miR-194-5p and enhance the expression and function of PD-Ls in HCC cells | suppress recipient T cells and macrophages to induce immunosuppression in HCC | HCC | Fan et al.152 |
| miR-183 | NK cells | induced by TGF-β, target and inhibit DAP12 | impair the lymphatic function of NK cells and trigger TGF-β-mediated immunosuppression | / | Donatelli et al.153 |
| miR-92a | NK cells | reduce the expression of antitumor cytokines (perforin, FasL, and IFN-γ) by NK cells | induce NK cells to decrease cytotoxic CD8+ T cell activity | glioma | Tang et al.154 |
| circUHRF1 | NK cells | degrade miR-449c-5p and upregulate TIM-3 to inhibit IFN-γ and TNF-α secretion in NK cells | reduce the NK cell ratio and tumor infiltration | HCC | Zhang et al.155 |
| Hypoxic miR-210 | NK cells | control antigen-specific immune responses and tumor hypoxia | reduce NK cell cytotoxicity and function | / | Norman et al.156 |
| Hypoxic miR-23a | NK cells | directly target the expression of CD107a as an immunosuppressive factor | reduce NK cell cytotoxicity and function | / | Berchem et al.157 |
| miR-29a-3p miR-21-5p (TAM) |
Tregs | directly inhibit STAT3 in CD4+ T cells and induce imbalance in the Treg/Th17 ratio to have a synergistic effect on STAT3 dinhibition | increase the Treg/Th17 ratio and create an immunosuppressive microenvironment | EOC | Zhou et al.158 |
| miR-214 | Tregs | decrease PTEN secretion | promote Treg expansion to enhance immunosuppression and tumor growth | / | Yin et al.159 |
| miR-210 miR-494 |
MDSCs | target IL-16 and CXCL12 (miR-210) and PTEN (miR-494), respectively | enhance MDSC recruitment and immunosuppressive activity | / | Liu and co-workers160,161 |
| miR-20a miR-17-5p |
MDSCs | repressed by hypoxia | inhibit MDSC immunosuppressive activity | / | Truettner and co-workers162, 163, 164 |
| miR-155 | MDSCs | repressed by tumor-derived exosomes | enhance MDSC recruitment and immunosuppressive activity | / | Wang et al.165 |
| miR-1247-3p | CAFs | convert HSC to CAFs via activation of PTEN/PDK1/AKT signaling | secret pro-inflammatory cytokines to promote HCC progression | HCC | Fang et al.166 |
| miR-21 | CAFs | convert HSC to CAFs via activation of PTEN/PDK1/AKT signaling | secret angiogenic cytokines to promote HCC progression | HCC | Zhou et al.167 |