Colorectal cancer cells with high metastatic potential drive metastasis by transmitting exosomal miR-20a-3p through modulating NF1/MAPK pathway.

Cancer cells exhibit heterogeneous metastatic potential, and high metastatic (HM) subclones can enhance the metastatic potential of low metastatic subclones by transmitting some factors. Exosomal miRNAs play a pivotal role in the crosstalk of heterogeneous metastatic subclones. This study discovered that miR-20a-3p was upregulated in colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRA), correlated with metastasis, and potentially served as a prognostic indicator for CRA. miR-20a-3p could promote the proliferation, migration, and invasion of CRA cells. Interestingly, HM CRA cells could promote malignant phenotypes of low metastatic CRA cells by transmitting exosomal miR-20a-3p. Mechanically, miR-20a-3p could inhibit neurofibromin 1(NF1), thereby activate the rat sarcoma viral oncogene (RAS)-mediated mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathway to drive the metastasis of CRA. In summary, our study provided evidence that colorectal cancer cells with HM potential drive metastasis by transmitting exosomal miR-20a-3p through modulating the NF1/MAPK pathway.