Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Differentiated by Exosomes Isolated from Cancer Cells Promote Cancer Cell Invasion.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the cancer microenvironment play an essential role in metastasis. Differentiation of endothelial cells into CAFs is induced by cancer cell-derived exosomes secreted from cancer cells that transfer molecular signals to surrounding cells. Differentiated CAFs facilitate migration of cancer cells to different regions through promoting extracellular matrix (ECM) modifications.