# Cancer-Associated Fibroblast-Derived Exosomal miRNA-320a Promotes Macrophage M2 PolarizationIn Vitro by Regulating PTEN/PI3Kγ Signaling in Pancreatic Cancer

Authors: Mingkun Zhao; Aobo Zhuang; Yuan Fang
Journal: Journal of Oncology
 (2022)

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## Abstract

Our previous study has indicated that cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play a crucial role in regulating gemcitabine resistance through transferring exosomal miRNA-106b to cancer cells. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are recently verified to facilitate gemcitabine resistance. However, the effect of CAFs in regulating TAMs function in pancreatic cancer (PCa) remains unclear. Here, primary CAFs were extracted from tumor tissues of PCa patients, and CAFs-derived exosomes (CAFs-Exo) were acquired and authenticated by transmission electron microscopy, qNano, and western blot analysis. The role of exosomal miRNA-320a in facilitating macrophage M2 polarization was investigatedin vitro. We found that CAFs-derived conditioned medium (CM) possessed a higher potential to promote macrophage M2 polarization compared with normal fibroblasts (NFs) or PCa cell-derived CM. Furthermore, CAFs-Exo treatment polarized macrophage to M2 phenotype. miRNA-320a levels were remarkably increased in CAFs-Exo versus NFs-Exo. More important, miRNA-320a could be transferred from CAFs to macrophages through exosomes, and miRNA-320a overexpression in macrophages facilitated its M2 polarization. Functionally, miRNA-320a-overexpressed macrophages facilitated PCa cell proliferation and invasion. CAFs pretreated with miRNA-320a inhibitor reduced miRNA-320a expression in CAFs-Exo and led to decreased M2 macrophage polarization. Finally, we verified that miRNA-320a polarized macrophage to M2 phenotype by regulating PTEN/PI3Kγ signaling. Taken together, the current data demonstrated that CAFs-derived exosomal miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization to accelerate malignant behavior of PCa cells.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is reported as the top four deadly cancer around the world. Even after decades of study, the 5-year survival rate of PDAC stays at an unsatisfactory rate of less than 5% [1]. Chemotherapy resistance is an important factor affecting the overall survival of pancreatic cancer patients [2]. Gemcitabine is a commonly used chemotherapeutic agent suitable for advanced pancreatic cancer (PCa) treatment. However, its effectiveness is commonly limited by chemoresistance, which occurs after weeks of initiation of therapy, due to the contribution of both intrinsic resistance and environmental factors [3].The tumor microenvironment (TME), a complex and dynamic set, exerts a critical role in tumor growth and metastasis, therapeutic resistance, and clinical outcome [4, 5]. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a heterogeneous and plastic population of activated fibroblasts and are major components of the TME [6, 7]. Alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) is the most frequently used marker for CAFs [8, 9]. CAFs account for 90% of tumor mass in pancreatic cancer [10]. Resident quiescent fibroblasts are reprogrammed by adjacent cancer cells to generate activated CAFs [11]. For instance, tumor cells-originated platelet-derived growth factor [12], interleukin-6 [13], miRNAs [14, 15], and transforming growth factor-β [16, 17] have been demonstrated as the important factors to form CAFs. The interactions of tumor cells with stromal cells are not monodirectional. Activated CAFs contribute to cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and therapeutic response [18]. Macrophages are a crucial component of immune cell infiltration in most types of tumors [19]. Macrophages are generally polarized into two different phenotypes, M1 (classically activated macrophages) and M2 (alternatively activated macrophages) phenotypes under different environmental stimuli [20]. M1 macrophages function in the antitumor role through inducing Th1 immune response and producing inflammatory factors and chemokines [21]. The M2 macrophages, namely, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), are in the majority in TME [22]. TAMs show anti-inflammatory and protumorigenic effect [22, 23]. For example, TAMs secrete IL-10 to repress CD8+ T cell-mediated cytotoxicity to cancer cells and IL-12 expression in TME [24, 25]. Zhang et al. demonstrated that TAMs increase CD59 expression and thus protect tumor cells against complement-dependent cytotoxicity [26]. Gemcitabine treatment promotes TAMs infiltration into the stroma of PCa and results in subsequent chemoresistance [27].Exosomes are small vesicles with membrane structures that can be released by a variety of tumors and stromal cells and play an important role in intercellular communication in the microenvironment [28]. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous, short noncoding RNAs that can regulate gene expression by base complementary pairing with the 3′-UTR of target gene mRNAs [20]. Our previous studies showed that miR-106b could be transferred from CAFs to PCa cells via exosomes [29]. miR-106b inhibitor-treated CAFs decrease miR-106b expression in CAFs exosomes and enhance chemosensitivity of cancer cells to gemcitabine. Based on the above findings, in the study, we investigated whether CAFs facilitate macrophage M2 polarization in PCa and identify its underlying mechanism.


## 2. Materials and Methods

### 2.1. Primary Cell Isolation and Culture

Human samples involved in this manuscript were approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University. According to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki, all patients and volunteers signed informed written consent. Pancreatic cancer tissues were collected from the Department of General Surgery, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, and washed 3 times using Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS). CAFs were isolated according to the method previously reported [30]. In brief, the tissue was mechanically separated with scissors and cut into pieces (1-2 mm3) with a scalpel. Then, the samples were maintained in the RPMI 1640 medium with collagenase IV (200 U/mL) and DNase (0.1%) at 37°C. The samples were further incubated in the RPMI 1640 medium containing collagenase IV of 200 U/mL (Worthington Biochemical, New Jersey, USA) and 0.1% DNase (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA) at 37°C under constant shaking. To obtain a single cell suspension, cells were filtered using 70μm and 40 μm nylon mesh. The collected cells were resuspended in the DMEM with 10% FBS, 4 mmol/L glutamine, and 1% penicillin/streptomycin and seeded into 6-well plates until pancreatic CAFs emerged. CAFs were kept in serum-free IMDM for one day, and the supernatants were collected as a conditioned medium (CM).


### 2.2. Cell Culture

Human monocytic cell line U937 was purchased from Merck Millipore (Temecula, California, USA) and cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS, 1% penicillin/streptomycin, and 10 nM 12-o-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Cells were maintained in a humidified 5% CO2 environment at 37°C.


### 2.3. Exosome Isolation and Identification

Exosomes from the supernatant of CAFs and NFs were separated and purified with Exoquick Reagent (SBI, Bay Area, California, USA) as per the instructions of the manufacturer. In brief, CAFs and NFs were cultured with a complete medium containing serum until reaching approximately 80% confluence and then washed with PBS 2 times. After that, the cells were cultured in a serum-free medium for 48 h. Cell supernatants were gathered and centrifuged at2000×g for 20 min at 4°C to remove residual cells and debris. Exoquick solution was added into the treated cell supernatant overnight at 4°C. Exosomes were collected from sediment after centrifuging at 13,000×g for 10 min at 4°C.A Nanosight LM10 System (Malcern Panalytical, Almerlo, Netherlands) equipped with a fast video capture and particle-tracking software was used to analyse the size of exosomes via measuring the rate of Brownian motion to calculate nanoparticle concentrations and size distribution. Besides, transmission electron microscopy is used for exosomes examination. Exosomes were suspended in glutaraldehyde before dropping in carbon-coated copper grids. It was then stained with 2% uranylacetate and dried before imaging.


### 2.4. Cell Transfection

MiR-320a mimic (miR-320a), mimic negative control (miR-cont), miR-320a-specific inhibitor (anti-miR-320a), miRNA inhibitor control (anti-miR-cont), siRNA for PI3Kγ (siPI3Kγ), and siRNA negative control (si-NC) were obtained from GenePharma (Shanghai, China). The cells were plated into 6-well plates, and 50 nM mimic/miRNA-inhibitor/siRNA were transfected into the U937 or CAFs cells using Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA). The transfection efficiency was identified through qPCR or western blot analysis.


### 2.5. Cell Co-Culture

A Transwell chamber (Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY, USA) with 6.5 mm-diameter polycarbonate filters (1μm pore) was applied for cell co-culture. CAFs-CM or CAFs-exosomes were plated into the lower chamber, while U937 or PDAC cells were plated into the upper chamber. U937 cells were collected 48 hours after co-culture.


### 2.6. Transwell Assay

The invasion assay was performed using the Transwell chamber with a pore size of 8μm (Corning) as per instructions of the manufacturer. In brief, 2 × 105 cells were plated into the upper chamber and treated with NFs-CM, CAFs-CM or CAFs/GW4869-CM. The medium containing 10% FBS was added into the lower chamber. The cells were hatched at 37°C with 5% CO2 for 24 h and identified using 0.1% crystal violet (Sangon Biotech, Shanghai, China) for 15 min. The cells were quantified with a microplate reader (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA).


### 2.7. CCK-8 Proliferation Assay

Cells were plated into 96-well plates (2 × 103 cells/well) and treated with U937/miR-320a-CM, NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM for 0, 24, 48, and 72 h. After that, 10µl CCK8 solution (Dojindo, Japan) was added to each pore for 2 hours. Absorbance was recorded at 450 nm with a 96-well plate reader (Molecular Devices Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA).


### 2.8. Quantitative Real-Time PCR

Total RNA from NFs, CAFs, NFs-exo, CAFs-exo, or U937 cells was extracted with TRIzol reagent (Takara, Japan) following the manufacturer’s instructions. RNA was reversely transcribed into complementary DNA (cDNA) using the M-MLV Reverse Transcriptase kit (Takara). Real-time PCR was performed using 2 × SYBR Green qPCR Master Mix (Selleck, Houston, Texas, USA) on Applied Biosystems 7300 Real-Time PCR system (Applied Biosystems, CA, USA). Internal control U6 was used for expression data normalization, and the 2−ΔΔCt method was used to calculate relative expression levels. All primers were synthesized from Sangon (Shanghai, China), and primer sequences are listed in Table 1.Table 1
All primer sequences involved in this manuscript.
GeneForwardReversemiR-320a mimicAAAAGCUGGGUUGAGAGGGCGAmiR-320a inhibitorAAAAGCUGGGUUGAGAGGGCGAmiR-320a mimic/inhibitor NCAAAAGCUGGGUUGAGAGGGCGAsiPI3KγGCAUCUUCAUCGUCAUUCAttmiR-320aAAAAGCUGGGUUGAGAGGGCGAAAAAGCUGGGUUGAGAGGGCGAmiR-320a stem-loopGTCTGTATGGTTGTTCTCGACTCCTTCACATCCCTATCCAACCATACAGACTCGCCCTCCD163TGGGTGGGGAAAGCATAACTAAGTTGTCGTCACACACCGTIL-10GCCTTGCAGAAAAGAGAGCTAAAGAAAGTCTTCACCTGGCCD206GAACAGAATGAACACTCGGTCAAAGGACAGACCAGTCCAATTCAGHLA-DRGGCGGCTTGAAGAATTTGGACCATTGGTGATCGGAGTATAGTTGGAiNOSAATCTTGGAGCGAGTTGTGGCAGGAAGTAGGTGAGGGCTTGU6CTCGCTTCGGCAGCACAGCCCTCCAAGCAGAACTGTG


### 2.9. Western Blot Analysis

The cells or exosomes were lysed with RIPA lysate (Sigma) to obtain proteins. The BCA Assay kit (Solarbio, Beijing, China) was used to determine the protein concentration. An equal amount of protein was added onto 10% SDS-PAGE gels, and the protein was then transferred onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes (Roche, Basel, Switzerland). The blots were then incubated with primary antibodies, Anti-PI3Kγ antibody (1 : 1,000, ab32089, Abcam), Anti-CD163 antibody (1 : 1,000, ab213612, Abcam), Anti-CD206 antibody (1 : 1,000, sc-58986, Santa Cruz Biotechnology), Anti-PTEN antibody (1 : 1,000, ab267787, Abcam), Anti-AKT antibody (1 : 1,000, ab213612, Abcam), Anti-pAKT antibody (1 : 1,000, ab38449, Abcam), Anti-Vimentin antibody (1 : 1,000, ab20346, Abcam), Anti-α-SMA antibody (1 : 1,000, ab108424, Abcam), Anti-IL-10 antibody (0.5 µg/ml, ab134742, Abcam), Anti-CD63 antibody (1 µg/ml, ab38418, Abcam), Anti-CD61 antibody (1 : 1,000, ab119992, Abcam), Anti-HSP70 antibody (1 : 1,000, ab2787, Abcam), and anti-Actin (1 µg/ml, ab8286, Abcam) overnight at 4°C. The horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody was then added to incubate the blots at room temperature for 2 h. At last, the blots were visualized with the Novex™ chemiluminescent substrate reagent kit (Waltham, MA, USA).


### 2.10. Luciferase Reporter Assay

Recombinant plasmid of pGL3-PTEN-3′-UTR or pGL3-PTEN-3′-UTR-Mutation (Mut) was constructed. Cells were co-transfected with 50 nM miR-320a mimic or inhibitor, 10 ng of pGL3-3′-UTR or pGL3-PTEN-3′-UTR-Mut, and 1 ng of pRL-TK with Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) following the manufacturer’s declaration. The cells were collected 24 h after transfection, and Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay System (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) was applied to detect the luciferase activity.


### 2.11. Statistical Analysis

Data were analyzed using SPSS19.0 software (SPSS Inc., USA). The data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. The difference between the two groups was analyzed by two-tailed Student’st-test or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Scheffé test. All experiments were repeated at least three times. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.


## 2.1. Primary Cell Isolation and Culture

Human samples involved in this manuscript were approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University. According to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki, all patients and volunteers signed informed written consent. Pancreatic cancer tissues were collected from the Department of General Surgery, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, and washed 3 times using Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS). CAFs were isolated according to the method previously reported [30]. In brief, the tissue was mechanically separated with scissors and cut into pieces (1-2 mm3) with a scalpel. Then, the samples were maintained in the RPMI 1640 medium with collagenase IV (200 U/mL) and DNase (0.1%) at 37°C. The samples were further incubated in the RPMI 1640 medium containing collagenase IV of 200 U/mL (Worthington Biochemical, New Jersey, USA) and 0.1% DNase (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA) at 37°C under constant shaking. To obtain a single cell suspension, cells were filtered using 70μm and 40 μm nylon mesh. The collected cells were resuspended in the DMEM with 10% FBS, 4 mmol/L glutamine, and 1% penicillin/streptomycin and seeded into 6-well plates until pancreatic CAFs emerged. CAFs were kept in serum-free IMDM for one day, and the supernatants were collected as a conditioned medium (CM).


## 2.2. Cell Culture

Human monocytic cell line U937 was purchased from Merck Millipore (Temecula, California, USA) and cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS, 1% penicillin/streptomycin, and 10 nM 12-o-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Cells were maintained in a humidified 5% CO2 environment at 37°C.


## 2.3. Exosome Isolation and Identification

Exosomes from the supernatant of CAFs and NFs were separated and purified with Exoquick Reagent (SBI, Bay Area, California, USA) as per the instructions of the manufacturer. In brief, CAFs and NFs were cultured with a complete medium containing serum until reaching approximately 80% confluence and then washed with PBS 2 times. After that, the cells were cultured in a serum-free medium for 48 h. Cell supernatants were gathered and centrifuged at2000×g for 20 min at 4°C to remove residual cells and debris. Exoquick solution was added into the treated cell supernatant overnight at 4°C. Exosomes were collected from sediment after centrifuging at 13,000×g for 10 min at 4°C.A Nanosight LM10 System (Malcern Panalytical, Almerlo, Netherlands) equipped with a fast video capture and particle-tracking software was used to analyse the size of exosomes via measuring the rate of Brownian motion to calculate nanoparticle concentrations and size distribution. Besides, transmission electron microscopy is used for exosomes examination. Exosomes were suspended in glutaraldehyde before dropping in carbon-coated copper grids. It was then stained with 2% uranylacetate and dried before imaging.


## 2.4. Cell Transfection

MiR-320a mimic (miR-320a), mimic negative control (miR-cont), miR-320a-specific inhibitor (anti-miR-320a), miRNA inhibitor control (anti-miR-cont), siRNA for PI3Kγ (siPI3Kγ), and siRNA negative control (si-NC) were obtained from GenePharma (Shanghai, China). The cells were plated into 6-well plates, and 50 nM mimic/miRNA-inhibitor/siRNA were transfected into the U937 or CAFs cells using Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA). The transfection efficiency was identified through qPCR or western blot analysis.


## 2.5. Cell Co-Culture

A Transwell chamber (Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY, USA) with 6.5 mm-diameter polycarbonate filters (1μm pore) was applied for cell co-culture. CAFs-CM or CAFs-exosomes were plated into the lower chamber, while U937 or PDAC cells were plated into the upper chamber. U937 cells were collected 48 hours after co-culture.


## 2.6. Transwell Assay

The invasion assay was performed using the Transwell chamber with a pore size of 8μm (Corning) as per instructions of the manufacturer. In brief, 2 × 105 cells were plated into the upper chamber and treated with NFs-CM, CAFs-CM or CAFs/GW4869-CM. The medium containing 10% FBS was added into the lower chamber. The cells were hatched at 37°C with 5% CO2 for 24 h and identified using 0.1% crystal violet (Sangon Biotech, Shanghai, China) for 15 min. The cells were quantified with a microplate reader (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA).


## 2.7. CCK-8 Proliferation Assay

Cells were plated into 96-well plates (2 × 103 cells/well) and treated with U937/miR-320a-CM, NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM for 0, 24, 48, and 72 h. After that, 10µl CCK8 solution (Dojindo, Japan) was added to each pore for 2 hours. Absorbance was recorded at 450 nm with a 96-well plate reader (Molecular Devices Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA).


## 2.8. Quantitative Real-Time PCR

Total RNA from NFs, CAFs, NFs-exo, CAFs-exo, or U937 cells was extracted with TRIzol reagent (Takara, Japan) following the manufacturer’s instructions. RNA was reversely transcribed into complementary DNA (cDNA) using the M-MLV Reverse Transcriptase kit (Takara). Real-time PCR was performed using 2 × SYBR Green qPCR Master Mix (Selleck, Houston, Texas, USA) on Applied Biosystems 7300 Real-Time PCR system (Applied Biosystems, CA, USA). Internal control U6 was used for expression data normalization, and the 2−ΔΔCt method was used to calculate relative expression levels. All primers were synthesized from Sangon (Shanghai, China), and primer sequences are listed in Table 1.Table 1
All primer sequences involved in this manuscript.
GeneForwardReversemiR-320a mimicAAAAGCUGGGUUGAGAGGGCGAmiR-320a inhibitorAAAAGCUGGGUUGAGAGGGCGAmiR-320a mimic/inhibitor NCAAAAGCUGGGUUGAGAGGGCGAsiPI3KγGCAUCUUCAUCGUCAUUCAttmiR-320aAAAAGCUGGGUUGAGAGGGCGAAAAAGCUGGGUUGAGAGGGCGAmiR-320a stem-loopGTCTGTATGGTTGTTCTCGACTCCTTCACATCCCTATCCAACCATACAGACTCGCCCTCCD163TGGGTGGGGAAAGCATAACTAAGTTGTCGTCACACACCGTIL-10GCCTTGCAGAAAAGAGAGCTAAAGAAAGTCTTCACCTGGCCD206GAACAGAATGAACACTCGGTCAAAGGACAGACCAGTCCAATTCAGHLA-DRGGCGGCTTGAAGAATTTGGACCATTGGTGATCGGAGTATAGTTGGAiNOSAATCTTGGAGCGAGTTGTGGCAGGAAGTAGGTGAGGGCTTGU6CTCGCTTCGGCAGCACAGCCCTCCAAGCAGAACTGTG


## 2.9. Western Blot Analysis

The cells or exosomes were lysed with RIPA lysate (Sigma) to obtain proteins. The BCA Assay kit (Solarbio, Beijing, China) was used to determine the protein concentration. An equal amount of protein was added onto 10% SDS-PAGE gels, and the protein was then transferred onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes (Roche, Basel, Switzerland). The blots were then incubated with primary antibodies, Anti-PI3Kγ antibody (1 : 1,000, ab32089, Abcam), Anti-CD163 antibody (1 : 1,000, ab213612, Abcam), Anti-CD206 antibody (1 : 1,000, sc-58986, Santa Cruz Biotechnology), Anti-PTEN antibody (1 : 1,000, ab267787, Abcam), Anti-AKT antibody (1 : 1,000, ab213612, Abcam), Anti-pAKT antibody (1 : 1,000, ab38449, Abcam), Anti-Vimentin antibody (1 : 1,000, ab20346, Abcam), Anti-α-SMA antibody (1 : 1,000, ab108424, Abcam), Anti-IL-10 antibody (0.5 µg/ml, ab134742, Abcam), Anti-CD63 antibody (1 µg/ml, ab38418, Abcam), Anti-CD61 antibody (1 : 1,000, ab119992, Abcam), Anti-HSP70 antibody (1 : 1,000, ab2787, Abcam), and anti-Actin (1 µg/ml, ab8286, Abcam) overnight at 4°C. The horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody was then added to incubate the blots at room temperature for 2 h. At last, the blots were visualized with the Novex™ chemiluminescent substrate reagent kit (Waltham, MA, USA).


## 2.10. Luciferase Reporter Assay

Recombinant plasmid of pGL3-PTEN-3′-UTR or pGL3-PTEN-3′-UTR-Mutation (Mut) was constructed. Cells were co-transfected with 50 nM miR-320a mimic or inhibitor, 10 ng of pGL3-3′-UTR or pGL3-PTEN-3′-UTR-Mut, and 1 ng of pRL-TK with Lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen) following the manufacturer’s declaration. The cells were collected 24 h after transfection, and Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay System (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) was applied to detect the luciferase activity.


## 2.11. Statistical Analysis

Data were analyzed using SPSS19.0 software (SPSS Inc., USA). The data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. The difference between the two groups was analyzed by two-tailed Student’st-test or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Scheffé test. All experiments were repeated at least three times. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.


## 3. Results

### 3.1. CAFs-Derived Conditioned Medium (CAFs-CM) Facilitated Macrophage M2 Polarization

Our studies have indicated that CAFs exert a critical role in gemcitabine resistance of PCa through transferring exosomal miRNA-106b to cancer cells [29]. Given that TAMs are recently verified to facilitate gemcitabine resistance in PCa, we next investigated the effect of CAFs on polarizing macrophages to M2 phenotype. Primary CAFs and normal fibroblasts (NFs) were obtained from PCa tissues and adjacent normal tissues, respectively. Western blot and immunofluorescence analysis were performed to characterize the phenotypes of CAFs and NFs by assessing vimentin and α-SMA expression. Both vimentin and α-SMA were expressed in isolated CAFs and NFs, but their levels were remarkably higher in CAFs than in NFs (Supplementary Figures S1(a)-(c)) [29]. Consistent with previous characterizations, CAFs exhibited an elongated and mesenchymal morphology (Supplementary Figure S1(c)) [31]. The role of CAFs in facilitating macrophage M2 polarization was then investigated in vitro. Figure 1(a) shows that U937 cultured with CAFs-CM presented a remarkable M2 polarization, as evidenced by the increased expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 (classic M2 signature markers). Although CAFs-CM enhanced the mRNA and protein levels of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 compared with NFs-CM, GW4869 (a specific exosome inhibitor)-treated CAFs partially lost its potential to induce macrophage M2 polarization (Figures 1(b)–1(d)). Functionally, CAFs-CM promoted PCa cell proliferation and invasion versus NFs-CM, whereas GW4869 treatment significantly destroyed the effect (Figures 1(e) and 1(f)). These results demonstrate that CAFs contribute to macrophage M2 polarization, possibly by exosome-mediated cell-to-cell communication.Figure 1
CAFs-derived conditioned medium (CAFs-CM) facilitated macrophage M2 polarization. (a) qPCR analysis of mRNA expression of classic M2 signature markers (CD163, CD206, and IL-10) and classic M1 signature markers (HLA-DR and iNOS) in U937 cells cultured with HPDE6-C7-CM, PANC-CM, NF3-CM, NF6-CM, CAF3-CM, or CAF6-CM. (b) qPCR analysis of mRNA expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 in U937 cells cultured with NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM. (c) Western blot analysis of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 protein expression in U937 cells cultured with NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM. (d) Quantitative analysis of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 protein expression in U937 cells cultured with NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM. (e) The effect of NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM on proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells by CCK-8 assay. (f) The effect of NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM on pancreatic cancer cells invasion was determined by the Transwell assay. Representative photographs (magnification, 100) and the number of invaded cells are displayed.∗∗p<0.01. #vs CAFs-CM. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; CM, conditioned medium; NFs, normal fibroblasts; CAFs, cancer-associated fibroblasts.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)


### 3.2. CAFs-Derived Exosomes (CAFs-Exo) Facilitated Macrophage M2 Polarization

To explore whether CAFs-Exo mediated the communication of CAFs-macrophages, exosomes existed in CAFs-CM were collected and then characterized and quantified by electron microscopy, qNano, and western blot methods. The collected products had a characteristic round or distinctive cup shape as suggested by electron micrograph analysis (Figure2(a)), and their size was distributed within the diameter range of 80–130 nm as indicated by qNano analysis (Figure 2(b)). The canonical exosome markers, CD63, CD81, and HSP70 [32], were further verified through western blot analysis (Figure 2(c)). The role of CAFs-Exo in regulating macrophage polarization was then evaluated. Figure 2(d) shows that CAFs-Exo markedly increased the mRNA expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 compared with NFs-Exo. Similar to the qPCR data, western blot revealed that the protein expression of these classic M2 signature markers was also increased after CAFs-Exo treatment (Figures 2(e) and 2(f)).Figure 2
CAFs-derived exosomes (CAFs-Exo) facilitated macrophage M2 polarization. (a) Electron micrograph analysis of exosomes collected from CAFs-CM (bar, 500 nm). (b) Size distribution and concentration range characterization of exosomes collected from CAFs-CM assayed with qNano. (c) Western blot analysis of protein expression of CD63, CD81, and HSP70 (markers of exosomes) in exosomes collected from CAFs-CM assayed. (d) qPCR analysis of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 mRNA expression in U937 cells cultured with NFs-Exo or CAFs-Exo. (e) Western blot analysis of protein expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 in U937 cells cultured with NFs-Exo or CAFs-Exo. (f) Quantitative analysis of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 protein expression in U937 cells cultured with NFs-Exo or CAFs-Exo.∗∗p<0.01. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; CM, conditioned medium; NFs, normal fibroblasts; CAFs, cancer-associated fibroblasts; Exo, exosome.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)


### 3.3. Exosomes Mediated the Transfer of miRNA-320a from CAFs to Macrophages

miRNAs encapsulated in exosomes could be transferred from CAFs to recipient cancer cells such as PCa cells [29], gastric cancer cells [33], and colorectal cancer cells [34]. In a previous study, we demonstrated that 5 miRNAs (miRNA-148a/106b/320a/125b/320c) were increased in CAFs following gemcitabine treatment (Supplementary Figure S2) [29]. We next investigated whether these miRNAs were upregulated in CAFs-Exo versus NFs-Exo and correlated with macrophage M2 polarization. As shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b), miRNAs (miRNA-106b, miRNA-125b, and miRNA-320a) were upregulated in CAFs and CAFs-Exo compared with NFs and NFs-Exo, respectively. Given the potential role of miRNA-320a in therapy resistance in PCa [35] and that miRNA-320a was the most significantly upregulated miRNA in CAFs-Exo (Figure 3(b)), miRNA-320a was selected for further investigation. The expression level of miRNA-320a was then assayed in more samples. Figure 3(c) shows that miRNA-320a level was higher in 7 PCa tissues-derived CAFs than in matched normal tissues-derived NFs. miRNA-320a level was also higher in most CAFs-Exo than in NFs-Exo (Figure 3(d)).Figure 3
Exosomes mediated the transfer of miRNA-320a from CAFs to macrophages. qPCR analysis of miR-106b, miR-148a, miR-125b, miR-320c, miR-320a, miR-1285, miR-422a, miR-29a, and miR-378d mRNA expression in NFs and CAFs (a) or NFs-Exo and CAFs-Exo (b). (c, d) qPCR analysis of miR-320a mRNA expression in 7 pancreatic cancer tissues-derived CAFs and 7 pancreatic cancer tissues-derived NFs or 7 pancreatic cancer tissues-derived CAFs-Exo and 7 pancreatic cancer tissues-derived NFs-Exo. (e–g) qPCR analysis of miR-320a mRNA expression in miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs (e), corresponding CAFs-Exo (f), and U937 cells after treatment with miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs-Exo (g). (h) Fluorescence microscope analysis of FAM-tagged miRNA-320a in U937cells treated with CAFs-Exo/FAM-miRNA-320a.∗∗p<0.01. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; CM, conditioned medium; NFs, normal fibroblasts; CAFs, cancer-associated fibroblasts; Exo, exosome; CAFs-Exo/FAM-miRNA-320a, FAM-miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs-Exo.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)To explore whether miRNA-320a could be directly transferred from CAFs to macrophages, miRNA-320a was overexpressed in CAFs and then CAFs-Exo was collected from CAFs-CM to treat macrophages. Figures3(e) and 3(f) show that miRNA-320a level was observably enhanced in miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs and CAFs-Exo versus control. More importantly, miRNA-320a level was significantly increased in U937 cells after treatment with miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs-Exo (Figure 3(g)), suggesting that there could be uptake of CAFs-Exo and their cargo by recipient U937 cells. Furthermore, CAFs were treated with FAM-labelled miRNA-320a, and U937 cells were cultured with FAM-miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs-Exo (CAFs-Exo/FAM-miRNA-320a). Fluorescence microscope analysis showed that there are FAM-tagged miRNA-320a in U937 cells treated with CAFs-Exo/FAM-miRNA-320a but not in U937 cells treated with CAFs-Exo/miRcont (Figure 3(h)), suggesting that miRNA-320a could be transferred from CAFs to U937 cells by CAFs-Exo.


### 3.4. miRNA-320a Facilitated Macrophage M2 Polarization

To investigate whether dysregulated expression of miRNA-320a in macrophages regulates its M2 polarization, U937 cells were treated with miRNA-320a mimics or inhibitors and then the expression of classic M1/M2 signature markers was assessed using qPCR and western blot analysis. As expected, forced expression of miRNA-320a promoted macrophage M2 polarization, as evidenced by increased mRNA and protein expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 (Figures4(a), 4(c), and 4(d), Supplementary Figure S3). Moreover, miRNA-320a inhibition repressed macrophage M2 polarization (Figure 4(b)). Functionally, miRNA-320a-overexpressed U937-derived CM (U937/miR-320a-CM) promoted PCa cell proliferation and invasion compared with U937/miRcont-CM (Figures 4(e)–4(g)), indicating that miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization and resulted in a subsequent PCa progression.Figure 4
miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization. qPCR analysis of classic M2 signature markers (CD163, CD206, and IL-10) and classic M1 signature markers (HLA-DR and iNOS) mRNA expression in U937 cells cultured with miRNA-320a mimics (a) or inhibitor (b). Western blot (c) and quantitative analysis (d) of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 protein expression in U937 cells cultured with miRNA-320a mimics. (e) The effect of U937/miR-320a-CM on pancreatic cancer cell proliferation by CCK-8 assay. (f, g) The effect of U937/miR-320a-CM on pancreatic cancer cells invasion was determined by the Transwell assay. Representative photographs (magnification, 100) and the number of invaded cells are displayed.∗∗p<0.01. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; CM, conditioned medium; NFs, normal fibroblasts; CAFs, cancer-associated fibroblasts; U937/miR-320a-CM, miRNA-320a-overexpressed U937-derived CM.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)Furthermore, we explore whether miRNA-320a inhibition resulted in a decreased level of miRNA-320a in CAFs-Exo and thus repressed the effect of CAFs-Exo on macrophage M2 polarization. miRNA-320a level was significantly reduced in miRNA-320a inhibitor-treated CAFs and corresponding exosomes (CAFs/anti-miR320a-Exo) (Figures5(a) and 5(b)). More importantly, CAFs/anti-miR320a-Exo possessed low ability to facilitate macrophage M2 polarization than CAFs/anti-miRcont-Exo (Figures 5(c) and 5(d)). These data demonstrate that miRNA-320a partially mediated the effect of CAFs-Exo on macrophage M2 polarization.Figure 5
Exo-miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization. qPCR analysis of miR-320a mRNA expression in CAFs/anti-miR320a (a) and CAFs/anti-miR320a-Exo (b). qPCR (c) and western blot (d) analysis of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 expression in CAFs/anti-miR320a-Exo.∗∗p<0.01. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; CAFs, cancer-associated fibroblasts; CAFs/anti-miR320a-Exo, miRNA-320a inhibitor-treated CAFs and corresponding exosomes.
(a)(b)(c)(d)


### 3.5. miRNA-320a Functions by Targeting PTEN/PI3Kγ Signaling

To understand the underlying mechanisms by which miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization, five algorithms including TargetScan, miRanda, PicTar, micro-T, and PITA were applied to predict miRNA-320a target genes. On the list of target genes, PTEN has been shown to be correlated with macrophage polarization in PCa [36, 37]. To prove the correlation of miRNA-320a with PTEN, two binding sites for miRNA-320a in 3′ UTR of PTEN cDNA were cloned into downstream of the luciferase gene (Figure 6(a)). Figures 6(b) and 6(c) show that miRNA-320a significantly repressed luciferase activity of PTEN-3′UTR-LUC, while mutations of four nucleotides in PTEN-3′UTR led to abrogation of the suppressive effect. Given the important role of PTEN/PI3Kγ signaling in regulating macrophage polarization and PCa progression [36, 37], the activation of PTEN/PI3Kγ signaling was then assessed. As shown in Figures 6(d) and 6(e), forced expression of miRNA-320a in U937 cells remarkably repressed PTNE protein expression and concurrently enhanced PI3Kγ expression. Moreover, the level of phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) was also increased in U937 cells treated with miRNA-320a (Figures 6(d) and 6(e)), indicating that miRNA-320a overexpression activated PTEN/PI3Kγ pathway U937 cells. To explore whether miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization through PTEN/PI3Kγ signaling, the expression of classic M2 markers was assessed in U937 cells overexpressed with miRNA-320a in the presence or absence of PI3Kγ siRNA. Figures 6(f) and 6(g) show that the expressions of CD163 and CD206 were increased after miRNA-320a overexpression, but these effects were blocked by PI3Kγ inhibition (Supplementary Figure S3(c)). Overall, CAFs-derived exosomal miRNA-320a promotes macrophage M2 polarization through regulating PTEN/PI3Kγ pathway in PCa.Figure 6
miRNA-320a functions by targeting PTEN/PI3Kγ signaling. (a) Schematic representation of the miR-320a site in PTEN-3′UTR. (b, c) Luciferase activity was assayed in PCa cells co-transfected with miR-320a and luciferase reporters containing PTEN-3′UTR. Data are presented as the relative ratio of firefly luciferase activity to renilla luciferase activity. Western blot (d) and quantitative analysis (e) of PTEN, PI3Kγ, AKT, and p-AKT protein expression in miRNA-320a-overexpressed U937 cells. Western blot (f) and quantitative analysis (g) of CD163 and CD206 protein expression in U937 cells overexpressed with miRNA-320a in the presence or absence of PI3Kγ siRNA. ∗∗p<0.01. #vs miR-320a mimic group. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)


## 3.1. CAFs-Derived Conditioned Medium (CAFs-CM) Facilitated Macrophage M2 Polarization

Our studies have indicated that CAFs exert a critical role in gemcitabine resistance of PCa through transferring exosomal miRNA-106b to cancer cells [29]. Given that TAMs are recently verified to facilitate gemcitabine resistance in PCa, we next investigated the effect of CAFs on polarizing macrophages to M2 phenotype. Primary CAFs and normal fibroblasts (NFs) were obtained from PCa tissues and adjacent normal tissues, respectively. Western blot and immunofluorescence analysis were performed to characterize the phenotypes of CAFs and NFs by assessing vimentin and α-SMA expression. Both vimentin and α-SMA were expressed in isolated CAFs and NFs, but their levels were remarkably higher in CAFs than in NFs (Supplementary Figures S1(a)-(c)) [29]. Consistent with previous characterizations, CAFs exhibited an elongated and mesenchymal morphology (Supplementary Figure S1(c)) [31]. The role of CAFs in facilitating macrophage M2 polarization was then investigated in vitro. Figure 1(a) shows that U937 cultured with CAFs-CM presented a remarkable M2 polarization, as evidenced by the increased expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 (classic M2 signature markers). Although CAFs-CM enhanced the mRNA and protein levels of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 compared with NFs-CM, GW4869 (a specific exosome inhibitor)-treated CAFs partially lost its potential to induce macrophage M2 polarization (Figures 1(b)–1(d)). Functionally, CAFs-CM promoted PCa cell proliferation and invasion versus NFs-CM, whereas GW4869 treatment significantly destroyed the effect (Figures 1(e) and 1(f)). These results demonstrate that CAFs contribute to macrophage M2 polarization, possibly by exosome-mediated cell-to-cell communication.Figure 1
CAFs-derived conditioned medium (CAFs-CM) facilitated macrophage M2 polarization. (a) qPCR analysis of mRNA expression of classic M2 signature markers (CD163, CD206, and IL-10) and classic M1 signature markers (HLA-DR and iNOS) in U937 cells cultured with HPDE6-C7-CM, PANC-CM, NF3-CM, NF6-CM, CAF3-CM, or CAF6-CM. (b) qPCR analysis of mRNA expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 in U937 cells cultured with NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM. (c) Western blot analysis of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 protein expression in U937 cells cultured with NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM. (d) Quantitative analysis of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 protein expression in U937 cells cultured with NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM. (e) The effect of NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM on proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells by CCK-8 assay. (f) The effect of NFs-CM, CAFs-CM, or CAFs/GW4869-CM on pancreatic cancer cells invasion was determined by the Transwell assay. Representative photographs (magnification, 100) and the number of invaded cells are displayed.∗∗p<0.01. #vs CAFs-CM. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; CM, conditioned medium; NFs, normal fibroblasts; CAFs, cancer-associated fibroblasts.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)


## 3.2. CAFs-Derived Exosomes (CAFs-Exo) Facilitated Macrophage M2 Polarization

To explore whether CAFs-Exo mediated the communication of CAFs-macrophages, exosomes existed in CAFs-CM were collected and then characterized and quantified by electron microscopy, qNano, and western blot methods. The collected products had a characteristic round or distinctive cup shape as suggested by electron micrograph analysis (Figure2(a)), and their size was distributed within the diameter range of 80–130 nm as indicated by qNano analysis (Figure 2(b)). The canonical exosome markers, CD63, CD81, and HSP70 [32], were further verified through western blot analysis (Figure 2(c)). The role of CAFs-Exo in regulating macrophage polarization was then evaluated. Figure 2(d) shows that CAFs-Exo markedly increased the mRNA expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 compared with NFs-Exo. Similar to the qPCR data, western blot revealed that the protein expression of these classic M2 signature markers was also increased after CAFs-Exo treatment (Figures 2(e) and 2(f)).Figure 2
CAFs-derived exosomes (CAFs-Exo) facilitated macrophage M2 polarization. (a) Electron micrograph analysis of exosomes collected from CAFs-CM (bar, 500 nm). (b) Size distribution and concentration range characterization of exosomes collected from CAFs-CM assayed with qNano. (c) Western blot analysis of protein expression of CD63, CD81, and HSP70 (markers of exosomes) in exosomes collected from CAFs-CM assayed. (d) qPCR analysis of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 mRNA expression in U937 cells cultured with NFs-Exo or CAFs-Exo. (e) Western blot analysis of protein expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 in U937 cells cultured with NFs-Exo or CAFs-Exo. (f) Quantitative analysis of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 protein expression in U937 cells cultured with NFs-Exo or CAFs-Exo.∗∗p<0.01. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; CM, conditioned medium; NFs, normal fibroblasts; CAFs, cancer-associated fibroblasts; Exo, exosome.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)


## 3.3. Exosomes Mediated the Transfer of miRNA-320a from CAFs to Macrophages

miRNAs encapsulated in exosomes could be transferred from CAFs to recipient cancer cells such as PCa cells [29], gastric cancer cells [33], and colorectal cancer cells [34]. In a previous study, we demonstrated that 5 miRNAs (miRNA-148a/106b/320a/125b/320c) were increased in CAFs following gemcitabine treatment (Supplementary Figure S2) [29]. We next investigated whether these miRNAs were upregulated in CAFs-Exo versus NFs-Exo and correlated with macrophage M2 polarization. As shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b), miRNAs (miRNA-106b, miRNA-125b, and miRNA-320a) were upregulated in CAFs and CAFs-Exo compared with NFs and NFs-Exo, respectively. Given the potential role of miRNA-320a in therapy resistance in PCa [35] and that miRNA-320a was the most significantly upregulated miRNA in CAFs-Exo (Figure 3(b)), miRNA-320a was selected for further investigation. The expression level of miRNA-320a was then assayed in more samples. Figure 3(c) shows that miRNA-320a level was higher in 7 PCa tissues-derived CAFs than in matched normal tissues-derived NFs. miRNA-320a level was also higher in most CAFs-Exo than in NFs-Exo (Figure 3(d)).Figure 3
Exosomes mediated the transfer of miRNA-320a from CAFs to macrophages. qPCR analysis of miR-106b, miR-148a, miR-125b, miR-320c, miR-320a, miR-1285, miR-422a, miR-29a, and miR-378d mRNA expression in NFs and CAFs (a) or NFs-Exo and CAFs-Exo (b). (c, d) qPCR analysis of miR-320a mRNA expression in 7 pancreatic cancer tissues-derived CAFs and 7 pancreatic cancer tissues-derived NFs or 7 pancreatic cancer tissues-derived CAFs-Exo and 7 pancreatic cancer tissues-derived NFs-Exo. (e–g) qPCR analysis of miR-320a mRNA expression in miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs (e), corresponding CAFs-Exo (f), and U937 cells after treatment with miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs-Exo (g). (h) Fluorescence microscope analysis of FAM-tagged miRNA-320a in U937cells treated with CAFs-Exo/FAM-miRNA-320a.∗∗p<0.01. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; CM, conditioned medium; NFs, normal fibroblasts; CAFs, cancer-associated fibroblasts; Exo, exosome; CAFs-Exo/FAM-miRNA-320a, FAM-miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs-Exo.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)To explore whether miRNA-320a could be directly transferred from CAFs to macrophages, miRNA-320a was overexpressed in CAFs and then CAFs-Exo was collected from CAFs-CM to treat macrophages. Figures3(e) and 3(f) show that miRNA-320a level was observably enhanced in miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs and CAFs-Exo versus control. More importantly, miRNA-320a level was significantly increased in U937 cells after treatment with miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs-Exo (Figure 3(g)), suggesting that there could be uptake of CAFs-Exo and their cargo by recipient U937 cells. Furthermore, CAFs were treated with FAM-labelled miRNA-320a, and U937 cells were cultured with FAM-miRNA-320a-overexpressed CAFs-Exo (CAFs-Exo/FAM-miRNA-320a). Fluorescence microscope analysis showed that there are FAM-tagged miRNA-320a in U937 cells treated with CAFs-Exo/FAM-miRNA-320a but not in U937 cells treated with CAFs-Exo/miRcont (Figure 3(h)), suggesting that miRNA-320a could be transferred from CAFs to U937 cells by CAFs-Exo.


## 3.4. miRNA-320a Facilitated Macrophage M2 Polarization

To investigate whether dysregulated expression of miRNA-320a in macrophages regulates its M2 polarization, U937 cells were treated with miRNA-320a mimics or inhibitors and then the expression of classic M1/M2 signature markers was assessed using qPCR and western blot analysis. As expected, forced expression of miRNA-320a promoted macrophage M2 polarization, as evidenced by increased mRNA and protein expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 (Figures4(a), 4(c), and 4(d), Supplementary Figure S3). Moreover, miRNA-320a inhibition repressed macrophage M2 polarization (Figure 4(b)). Functionally, miRNA-320a-overexpressed U937-derived CM (U937/miR-320a-CM) promoted PCa cell proliferation and invasion compared with U937/miRcont-CM (Figures 4(e)–4(g)), indicating that miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization and resulted in a subsequent PCa progression.Figure 4
miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization. qPCR analysis of classic M2 signature markers (CD163, CD206, and IL-10) and classic M1 signature markers (HLA-DR and iNOS) mRNA expression in U937 cells cultured with miRNA-320a mimics (a) or inhibitor (b). Western blot (c) and quantitative analysis (d) of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 protein expression in U937 cells cultured with miRNA-320a mimics. (e) The effect of U937/miR-320a-CM on pancreatic cancer cell proliferation by CCK-8 assay. (f, g) The effect of U937/miR-320a-CM on pancreatic cancer cells invasion was determined by the Transwell assay. Representative photographs (magnification, 100) and the number of invaded cells are displayed.∗∗p<0.01. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; CM, conditioned medium; NFs, normal fibroblasts; CAFs, cancer-associated fibroblasts; U937/miR-320a-CM, miRNA-320a-overexpressed U937-derived CM.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)Furthermore, we explore whether miRNA-320a inhibition resulted in a decreased level of miRNA-320a in CAFs-Exo and thus repressed the effect of CAFs-Exo on macrophage M2 polarization. miRNA-320a level was significantly reduced in miRNA-320a inhibitor-treated CAFs and corresponding exosomes (CAFs/anti-miR320a-Exo) (Figures5(a) and 5(b)). More importantly, CAFs/anti-miR320a-Exo possessed low ability to facilitate macrophage M2 polarization than CAFs/anti-miRcont-Exo (Figures 5(c) and 5(d)). These data demonstrate that miRNA-320a partially mediated the effect of CAFs-Exo on macrophage M2 polarization.Figure 5
Exo-miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization. qPCR analysis of miR-320a mRNA expression in CAFs/anti-miR320a (a) and CAFs/anti-miR320a-Exo (b). qPCR (c) and western blot (d) analysis of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 expression in CAFs/anti-miR320a-Exo.∗∗p<0.01. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; CAFs, cancer-associated fibroblasts; CAFs/anti-miR320a-Exo, miRNA-320a inhibitor-treated CAFs and corresponding exosomes.
(a)(b)(c)(d)


## 3.5. miRNA-320a Functions by Targeting PTEN/PI3Kγ Signaling

To understand the underlying mechanisms by which miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization, five algorithms including TargetScan, miRanda, PicTar, micro-T, and PITA were applied to predict miRNA-320a target genes. On the list of target genes, PTEN has been shown to be correlated with macrophage polarization in PCa [36, 37]. To prove the correlation of miRNA-320a with PTEN, two binding sites for miRNA-320a in 3′ UTR of PTEN cDNA were cloned into downstream of the luciferase gene (Figure 6(a)). Figures 6(b) and 6(c) show that miRNA-320a significantly repressed luciferase activity of PTEN-3′UTR-LUC, while mutations of four nucleotides in PTEN-3′UTR led to abrogation of the suppressive effect. Given the important role of PTEN/PI3Kγ signaling in regulating macrophage polarization and PCa progression [36, 37], the activation of PTEN/PI3Kγ signaling was then assessed. As shown in Figures 6(d) and 6(e), forced expression of miRNA-320a in U937 cells remarkably repressed PTNE protein expression and concurrently enhanced PI3Kγ expression. Moreover, the level of phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) was also increased in U937 cells treated with miRNA-320a (Figures 6(d) and 6(e)), indicating that miRNA-320a overexpression activated PTEN/PI3Kγ pathway U937 cells. To explore whether miRNA-320a facilitated macrophage M2 polarization through PTEN/PI3Kγ signaling, the expression of classic M2 markers was assessed in U937 cells overexpressed with miRNA-320a in the presence or absence of PI3Kγ siRNA. Figures 6(f) and 6(g) show that the expressions of CD163 and CD206 were increased after miRNA-320a overexpression, but these effects were blocked by PI3Kγ inhibition (Supplementary Figure S3(c)). Overall, CAFs-derived exosomal miRNA-320a promotes macrophage M2 polarization through regulating PTEN/PI3Kγ pathway in PCa.Figure 6
miRNA-320a functions by targeting PTEN/PI3Kγ signaling. (a) Schematic representation of the miR-320a site in PTEN-3′UTR. (b, c) Luciferase activity was assayed in PCa cells co-transfected with miR-320a and luciferase reporters containing PTEN-3′UTR. Data are presented as the relative ratio of firefly luciferase activity to renilla luciferase activity. Western blot (d) and quantitative analysis (e) of PTEN, PI3Kγ, AKT, and p-AKT protein expression in miRNA-320a-overexpressed U937 cells. Western blot (f) and quantitative analysis (g) of CD163 and CD206 protein expression in U937 cells overexpressed with miRNA-320a in the presence or absence of PI3Kγ siRNA. ∗∗p<0.01. #vs miR-320a mimic group. qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)


## 4. Discussion

The interactions of stroma tumor are of key importance for the growth, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance of PCa [18]. CAFs are the most prominent cellular component in the stroma of PCa. CAFs act as a protumorigenic factor by interacting directly with tumor cells or remodeling tumor immune microenvironment. PCa is a typical tumor characterized by the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, as showed by the massive infiltration of TAMs and the deletion of effector T-cells [38, 39]. TAMs contribute to the formation of immunosuppressive environment by repressing the secretion of chemokines, recruiting regulatory T cell (Treg), and suppressing T cell proliferation [5, 40]. TAMs are correlated with acinar cell dedifferentiation to ductal cells at the early stages. Macrophage depletion destroyed the production of pancreatic acinar-to-ductal metaplasia [5]. A better understanding of the relationship between CAFs and TAMs will significantly increase the ability to develop complementary strategies for cancer treatment [41]. In the study, we illustrated that CAFs are a key factor in gemcitabine resistance of PCa [29]. Taking into consideration that TAMs are recently verified to facilitate gemcitabine resistance in PCa, we further investigated the effect and the underlying mechanism of CAFs-polarized macrophage to M2 phenotype. We found that CAFs-derived CM facilitates macrophage M2 polarization by transferring exosomal miRNA-320a to macrophages.The communication of CAFs-cancer cells is driven by exosomal transfer and cytokines-mediated paracrine signaling [42]. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles with lipid bilayer structures, which play an important role in proteins, nucleic acids, and miRNA transportation between cells. Exosomes are reported to be secreted by a variety of cells, and their release is highly related to tumorigenesis, tumor progression, and therapeutic response [43–46]. Among them, CAFs exosomes are thought to be a possible way to regulate cancer cells via cell-to-cell communication [28]. Here, we purified that exosomes existed in CAFs-CM for characterization and quantification and then investigated the effect and underlying mechanisms of exosomes in gemcitabine resistance of PCa. CAFs-Exo promotes the expression of CD163, CD206, and IL-10 on macrophages compared with NFs-Exo, indicating that CAFs-Exo facilitates macrophage M2 polarization.Mounting evidence has demonstrated that exosomes exert their biological functions by transferring miRNAs [47]. In the study, we found that miRNA-320a could be transferred from CAFs to macrophages through exosomes. Moreover, miRNA-320a overexpression in macrophages plays a critical role in M2 polarization. miRNA-320a-overexpressed macrophages facilitate proliferation and invasion of PCa cells. PI3Kγ is the only kinase belonging to class IB PI3K member and participates in the G-protein-dependent cellular signal regulation [48]. Suppression of PI3Kγ blocks the immunosuppressive effects of TAMs. And, it could also intensify the responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors [49–51]. Macrophage-mediated tumor metastasis could be blocked in a number of tumor models when PI3Kγ expression is lost [52, 53]. Here, we revealed that forced expression of miRNA-320a in U937 cells remarkably represses PTEN expression while it enhances PI3Kγ expression. Moreover, the increased level of phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) in U937 cells treated with miRNA-320a illustrates that miRNA-320a overexpression activates PTEN/PI3Kγ pathway in U937 cells. These changes could further promote M2 macrophage polarization, resulting in PCa cell migration and invasion. It should be noted that the biological role of CAFs-exo-miRNA-320a in facilitating macrophage M2 polarization has only been demonstrated in in-vitro experiments. It is necessary to conduct in vivo experiments to further confirm this conclusion.Taken together, the current data demonstrate that CAFs-derived exosomal miRNA-320a polarizes macrophage to M2 phenotype through activating the PTEN/PI3Kγ pathway to facilitate malignant behaviors of PCa cells in vitro.



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*Source: 9514697-2022-07-01.xml*