Keynote Presentation: MicroRNAs in Extracellular Vesicles orchestrate the biology of the Tumor Microenvironment

MicroRNAs (miRs) are small non-coding RNAs whose expression is altered in several types of human cancers. Recent evidence supports their inter-cellular transfer through extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted both by the cancer cells and by the surrounding cells of the Tumor Microenvironment (TME). These findings have suggested that the behavior of cancer cells can be significantly modified by the cross-talk with the surrounding TME as mediated by the exchange of EV-miRs. This lecture will focus on some of the most relevant implications of vesicular miRs in the biology of cancer cells and its surrounding TME.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain how to classify different types of Extracellular Vesicles

2. Identify different possible outcomes of miR transfer to and from cancer cells

3. Learn how to exploit this knowledge to identify new therapeutic targets