Extracellular vesicles derived from hypoxic colorectal cancer cells confer metastatic phenotype to non-metastatic cancer cells

Background/Aim: Tumor-secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs) play an important role as mediators of intercellular communication. Hypoxia is a common feature of solid tumors frequently associated with an aggressive clinical behavior. This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding into the functions of EVs in intercellular communication between primary and metastatic cancer cells under hypoxic conditions. Materials and Methods: EVs were isolated from two isogenic colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines SW480 and SW620 cultured under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Their uptake and effects in SW480 and SW620 cells were studied using EV uptake, proliferation, spheroid-formation, wound healing and invasion assays. Results: Our data showed that hypoxia enhanced the release of EVs from CRC cells in a Hypoxia Induced Factor (HIF)-1-dependent manner. Hypoxic EVs were taken up by CRC cells more efficiently than normoxic EVs. Hypoxic EVs stimulated motility, invasiveness and stemness of primary tumour-derived SW480 cells, whereas they had a little effect on metastasis-derived SW620 cells. Conclusion: Hypoxic colorectal cancer-derived EVs confer aggressiveness and invasiveness to hypoxia-naïve cancer cells.