SNHG12 in cancer-associated fibroblast-derived extracellular vesicle induces macrophage-myofibroblast transition

To investigate mechanism of lncRNA SNHG12 induced macrophage-myofibroblast transition (MMT) in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs)-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). CAFs EVs were isolated from human NSCLC tissue and adjacent cancerous tissue (<i>n</i> = 3), and their morphology and particle size were evaluated. Macrophages and MMT cells with different phenotypes were detected, and the binding relationship of lncRNA SNHG12, miR-181a-5p, and Smad3 was verified. LncRNA SNHG12 derived from CAFs-EVs promoted the transformation of M2 macrophages into MMT. In addition, lncRNA-SNHG12 increased the expression of Smad3 which was significantly upregulated in MMT through sponge of miR-181a-5p. LncRNA SNHG12 derived from CAFs-EV induced MMT in NSCLC.