Fig-derived exosome-like nanoparticles attenuating bone metastasis of breast cancer through establishing an anti-tumor microenvironment

  • Pharmacol Res. 2026 Feb:224:108088. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2026.108088.
Dan-Dan Wang  1 Jin Qian  1 Hui-Zhen Zou  2 Hao Tian  1 Jia Cai  2 Cui-Cui Hao  2 Xiao-Wen Huang  2 Ming Li  2 Yan Dai  2 Min Zhang  2 Gao-Ming Li  3 Song-Tao Wang  4 Meng-Meng Yang  2 Ruo-Hong Liu  2 Ce-Shi Chen  5 Xia Kang  6 Xiao-Wei Qi  7
Affiliations
  • 1. Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
  • 2. Tissue stress injury and functional repair key laboratory of Sichuan Province & Basic Medical Laboratory, General hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, Sichuan 610083, China.
  • 3. Disease Surveillance Division, Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Central Theater Command, Beijing 100000, China.
  • 4. Department of Transfusion Medicine, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, Sichuan 610083, China.
  • 5. Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China; Academy of Biomedical Engineering, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan 650000, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 6. Tissue stress injury and functional repair key laboratory of Sichuan Province & Basic Medical Laboratory, General hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, Sichuan 610083, China; College of Medicine, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610031, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 7. Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract

Plant-derived exosomes-like nanoparticles (ELNs) have been proven to be utilized as a promising therapy for varieties of diseases and conditions with ideal biocompatibility and biosecurity. Fig (Ficus carica) was reported to exert an anti-tumor effect, however, the active components and the underlying mechanism are still unclear. Herein, we isolated and characterized Fig-releasing ELNs (Fig-ELNs). Then, we found Fig-ELNs can prevent the growth of both human and murine breast Cancer (BC) cells and induce M1 polarization of macrophages in bone metastasis murine model of BC. Mechanically, peu-miR-2916-p3 was identified as the important component in Fig-ELNs to inhibit the progression of bone metastasis of BC. Peu-miR-2916-p3 can promote the degradation of RN7SL1 and induce the Apoptosis of BC cells. On the Other hand, it also directly targeted Stab1 and promote the activation of non-canonical NF-κB pathway to facilitate M1 polarization. Our study demonstrated that Fig-ELNs can be a promising therapeutical target of bone metastasis of BC through directly inhibiting the growth of BC cells and remodeling tumor microenvironment, implying as safe and effective Adjuvant therapy.

Keywords
Bone metastasis; Breast cancer; Fig-ELNs; Macrophage; Peu-miR-2916-p3; Tumor microenvironment.
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