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The Role of Exosomes in Pancreatic Cancer Microenvironment

  • Special Issue: Mathematical Oncology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Exosomes are nanovesicles shed by cells as a means of communication with other cells. Exosomes contain mRNAs, microRNAs (miRs) and functional proteins. In the present paper, we develop a mathematical model of tumor–immune interaction by means of exosomes shed by pancreatic cancer cells and dendritic cells. Cancer cells’ exosomes contain miRs that promote their proliferation and that inhibit immune response by dendritic cells, and by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Dendritic cells release exosomes with proteins that induce apoptosis of cancer cells and that block regulatory T cells. Simulations of the model show how the size of the pancreatic cancer can be determined by measurement of specific miRs (miR-21 and miR-203 in the case of pancreatic cancer), suggesting these miRs as biomarkers for cancer.

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Acknowledgements

The authors have been supported by the Mathematical Biosciences Institute and the National Science Foundation under Grant DMS 0931642.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, Mathematical Biosciences Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Avner Friedman

  2. Department of Mathematics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Wenrui Hao

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  1. Avner Friedman
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Correspondence to Wenrui Hao.

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Friedman, A., Hao, W. The Role of Exosomes in Pancreatic Cancer Microenvironment. Bull Math Biol 80, 1111–1133 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-017-0254-9

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