Cell‑to‑cell communication via extracellular vesicles among human pancreatic cancer cells derived from the same patient

Despite existing multimodal therapies, pancreatic cancer exhibits high metastatic capability and poor prognosis. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanoparticles comprising lipid bilayers and various other components, such as protein and nucleic acids, derived from secreted cells. Recent research has demonstrated the involvement of EVs released from cancer cells in the metastasis of cancer cells to distant organs. However, the effects of EVs released from pancreatic cancer cells on other pancreatic cancer cells in a tumor microenvironment remain unclear. The present study aimed to elucidate that EVs released from PK‑45H pancreatic cancer cells are taken up by PK‑45P pancreatic cancer cells derived from the same patient through dynamin‑related endocytosis. Additionally, EVs released from PK‑45H cells augment the phosphorylation of classical mitogen‑activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways in PK‑45P cells. The uptake of EVs released from PK‑45H cells by PK‑45P cells stimulates cell migration through the classical MAPK‑dependent pathway, suggesting that EVs released from one pancreatic cancer cell are taken up by other surrounding pancreatic cancer cells and could be critical inducers of cancer metastasis in the tumor microenvironment.