A Novel Treatment for Glioblastoma: Mesenchymal Stem Cells as Natural Bio-Factories for Exosomes Carrying miR-124a

Abstract

There is currently no effective treatment for glioblastoma, the most common andmost deadly primary adult brain tumor. MicroRNAs (miRs), important post-transcriptionalregulators, represent a new class of anti-glioma agents. However, major unanswered problems in glioma therapy are which miRs will be most effective against tumor-homing glioma sphereforming cells (GSCs) and how these miRs will be delivered. Here, we build upon the recent observation that tumor-homing, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) secrete exosomes, nano-sized vesicles that transport various cargoes, including miRs. We hypothesized that specific miRs can effectively treat GSCs and that these miRs can be delivered to glioblastomas using MSCs themselves or exosomes derived from ex vivo-cultured MSCs.