Key Points:
1. MiR-21 was up-regulated in hypopharyngeal cancer tissue and FaDu cells.
2. The overall particle concentration of exosomes from Fadu cells was 4.2E+10 particles/mL and the diameter of these exosomes was 117.1nm mostly.
3. The expression level of α-SMA and FAP in hBMSCs increased when hBMSCs and exosomes from Fadu cell line were co-cultured, suggesting exosomes from FaDu cells mediated induction of CAF-like features in hBMSCs.
4. The expression level of α-SMA and FAP in hBMSCs decreased when we co-cultured hBMSCs and exosomes from Fadu cell line with miR-21 gene knocked out, suggesting miR-21 mediated induction of CAF-like features in hBMSCs.
5. During the transition of hBMSCs to CAFs, cell proportion of G1 phase significantly decreased, while the cell proportion of G2 phase significantly increased compared to the control and this phenomenon was reversed in miR-21 knock-out experiment.