Gastric cancer–secreted exosomal X26nt increases angiogenesis and vascular permeability by targeting VE‐cadherin

Angiogenesis is closely associated with tumorigenesis, invasion, and metastasis by providing oxygen and nutrients. Recently, increasing evidence indicates that cancer‐derived exosomes which contain proteins, coding, and noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) were shown to have proangiogenic function in cancer. A 26‐nt‐long ncRNA (X26nt) is generated in the process of inositol‐requiring enzyme 1 alpha (IRE1α)‐induced unspliced XBP1 splicing. However, the role of X26nt in the angiogenesis of gastric cancer (GC) remains largely unknown. In the present study, we found that X26nt was significantly elevated in GC and GC exosomes. Then, we verified that X26nt could be delivered into human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) via GC cell exosomes and promote the proliferation, migration, and tube formation of HUVECs. We revealed that exosomal X26nt decreased vascular endothelial cadherin (VE‐cadherin) by directly combining the 3′UTR of VE‐cadherin mRNA in HUVECs, thereby increasing vascular permeability. We further demonstrated that X26nt accelerates the tumor growth and angiogenesis in a mouse subcutaneous tumor model. Our findings investigate a unique intercellular communication mediated by cancer‐derived exosomes and reveal a novel mechanism of exosomal X26nt in the regulation of tumor vasculature.