Exosomes and Exosomal circRNAs: The Rising Stars in the Progression, Diagnosis and Prognosis of Gastric Cancer

Ling Lu,1,* Shikun Fang,2,* Yue Zhang,2 Longtao Jin,1 Wenrong Xu,2 Zhaofeng Liang2 1Child Healthcare Department, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212001, People’s Republic of China; 2Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Zhaofeng LiangJiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail liangzhaofeng@ujs.edu.cnAbstract: Gastric cancer (GC) is a common malignant tumor affecting human health, with occult onset and poor prognosis. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles secreted by almost all cells, which can reflect the state of source cells or tissues. It is reported that exosomes are involved in almost all processes of GC. Exosomes provided a window to understand changes in cell or tissue states by carrying active components such as circular RNAs (circRNAs). CircRNAs are a naturally occurring class of endogenous noncoding RNAs and abnormal expression during the occurrence and development of GC. Exosomal circRNAs are those circRNAs stably existing in exosomes and having high clinical values as novel potential diagnosis and prognosis biomarkers of GC, which have the characteristics of abnormal expression, tissue specificity and development stage specificity. Herein, we briefly summarize the functions and roles and the current research progress of exosomes and exosomal circRNAs in GC with a focus on the potential application for GC progression, diagnosis and prognosis. We also prospected the clinical application of exosomes and exosomal circRNAs in the future.Keywords: gastric cancer, exosomes, circRNAs, function