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Review
. 2015 Jan 12;11(2):238-45.
doi: 10.7150/ijbs.10725. eCollection 2015.

Exosomes in mesenchymal stem cells, a new therapeutic strategy for cardiovascular diseases?

Lina Huang  1 , Wenya Ma  1 , Yidi Ma  1 , Dan Feng  1 , Hongyang Chen  1 , Benzhi Cai  1
Affiliations
Review

Exosomes in mesenchymal stem cells, a new therapeutic strategy for cardiovascular diseases?

Lina Huang et al. Int J Biol Sci. .

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are still a major cause of people deaths worldwide, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation holds great promise due to its capacity to differentiate into cardiovascular cells and secrete protective cytokines, which presents an important mechanism of MSCs therapy for CVDs. Although the capability of MSCs to differentiate into cardiomyocytes (CMCs), endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) has been well recognized in massive previous experiments both in vitro and in vivo, low survival rate of transplanted MSCs in recipient hearts suggests that therapeutic effects of MSCs transplantation might be also correlated with other underlying mechanisms. Notably, recent studies uncovered that MSCs were able to secret cholesterol-rich, phospholipid exosomes which were enriched with microRNAs (miRNAs). The released exosomes from MSCs acted on hearts and vessels, and then exerted anti-apoptosis, cardiac regeneration, anti-cardiac remodeling, anti-inflammatory effects, neovascularization and anti-vascular remodeling, which are considered as novel molecular mechanisms of therapeutic potential of MSCs transplantation. Here we summarized recent advances about the role of exosomes in MSCs therapy for CVDs, and discussed exosomes as a novel approach in the treatment of CVDs in the future.

Keywords: exosomes; mesenchymal stem cell; microRNA; myocardial infarction; pulmonary hypertension; reperfusion injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Mechanisms of mesenchymal stem cells transplantation for CVDs. MSCs can differentiate into CMCs, ECs and VSMCs to replace the loss of cardiovascular cells. Besides, MSCs also secreted paracrine factors and exosomes to target heart and vasculature to exert anti-apoptosis, anti-cardiac remodeling, anti-inflammatory reactions, neovascularization and anti-vascular remodeling effects.
Fig 2
Fig 2
Exosomes mediates beneficial effects of MSCs on hearts. MSCs secret exosomes containing miR-22 and miR-221 to target Mecp2 and PUMA, and thus exert anti-apoptotic effects. Anti-inflammatory effect of MSCs is mediated by exosomes as well as MVs. Exosomes are also responsible for anti-cardiac remodeling of MSCs. Cardiac regeneration property of MSCs has been proved, but whether exosomes are involved in this process remains unclear.
Fig 3
Fig 3
Effects of MSCs on vasculature. MSCs secrete exosomes to facilitate PMECs migration, and thus contribute to vascularization. Angiogenic action of MSCs is mediated by MSCs-secreting EVs and MVs. MSCs generate exosomes and paracrine factors to inhibit HIMF and Smad2, and exert anti-vascular remodeling effect.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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