Abstract
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a critical role in the tumor inflammatory microenvironment and facilitate tumor growth and metastasis. Most types of tumors aberrantly express microRNAs (miRNAs), which can be transferred between cells by exosomes and can regulate gene expression in recipient cells, but it remains unclear whether tumor-derived miRNAs are transferred by exosomes and regulate the TAM phenotype. We report that mouse 4T1 breast cancer cell-derived exosomes enhanced TAM expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α and that inhibition of 4T1-cell exosome secretion through short hairpin RNA-mediated Rab27a/b depletion repressed tumor growth and metastasis and markedly downregulated IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in a 4T1 breast tumor model. Furthermore, miRNA expression profiling revealed that three miRNAs (miR-100-5p, miR-183-5p, and miR-125b-1-3p) were considerably more abundant in 4T1 cell exosomes than in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages, indicating potential exosome-mediated transfer of the miRNAs, and, notably, miR-183-5p was found to be transferred from 4T1 cells to macrophages through exosomes. Moreover, PPP2CA was verified as an miR-183-5p target gene, and PPP2CA downregulation enhanced NF-κB signaling and promoted macrophage expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. Lastly, when miR-183-5p was downregulated in exosomes through miR-183-5p sponge expression in 4T1 cells, these 4T1-derived exosomes triggered diminished p65 phosphorylation and IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α secretion, and the miRNA downregulation also led to repression of tumor growth and metastasis in the 4T1 breast tumor model in vivo. Thus, miR-183-5p expressed in tumor cells was transferred to macrophages by exosomes and promoted the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines by inhibiting PPP2CA expression, which contributed to tumor progression in a breast cancer model.