Exosomes derived from human mesenchymal stem cells promote gastric cancer cell growth and migration via the activation of the Akt pathway

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a component of the tumor microenvironment and can promote the development of gastric cancer through paracrine mechanism. However, the effects of MSC-exosomes (MSC-ex) on gastric cancer are less clear. The present study reported that MSC-ex promoted the proliferative and metastatic potential of gastric cancer cells ex vivo. It was found that MSC-ex enhanced the migration and invasion of HGC-27 cells via the induction of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. MSC-ex increased the expression of mesenchymal markers and reduced the expression of epithelial markers in gastric cancer cells. MSC-ex also enhanced the tumorigenicity of gastric cancer cells ex vivo. MSC-ex induced the stemness of gastric cancer cells. The expression of octamer-binding transcription factor 4, ex determining region Y-box 2 and Lin28B significantly increased in gastric cancer cells treated with MSC-ex. The present study further demonstrated that MSC-ex elicited these biological effects predominantly via the activation of the protein kinase B signaling pathway. Taken together, the present findings provided novel evidence for the role of MSC-ex in gastric cancer and a new opportunity for improving the efficiency of gastric cancer treatment by targeting MSC-ex.