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Review
. 2022 Jul 4;13(7):580.
doi: 10.1038/s41419-022-05034-x.

Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles for immunomodulation and regeneration: a next generation therapeutic tool?

Meng Kou #  1 , Li Huang #  1 , Jinjuan Yang  1 , Zhixin Chiang  2 , Shaoxiang Chen  1 , Jie Liu  3   4 , Liyan Guo  1 , Xiaoxian Zhang  1 , Xiaoya Zhou  1 , Xiang Xu  5 , Xiaomei Yan  6 , Yan Wang  7 , Jinqiu Zhang  1 , Aimin Xu  3   4 , Hung-Fat Tse  4   8 , Qizhou Lian  9   10   11   12   13
Affiliations
Review

Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles for immunomodulation and regeneration: a next generation therapeutic tool?

Meng Kou et al. Cell Death Dis. .

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be widely isolated from various tissues including bone marrow, umbilical cord, and adipose tissue, with the potential for self-renewal and multipotent differentiation. There is compelling evidence that the therapeutic effect of MSCs mainly depends on their paracrine action. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are fundamental paracrine effectors of MSCs and play a crucial role in intercellular communication, existing in various body fluids and cell supernatants. Since MSC-derived EVs retain the function of protocells and have lower immunogenicity, they have a wide range of prospective therapeutic applications with advantages over cell therapy. We describe some characteristics of MSC-EVs, and discuss their role in immune regulation and regeneration, with emphasis on the molecular mechanism and application of MSC-EVs in the treatment of fibrosis and support tissue repair. We also highlight current challenges in the clinical application of MSC-EVs and potential ways to overcome the problem of quality heterogeneity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. The development and main types of extracellular vesicles.
A Exosomes are derived from the endosomal pathway. B Composition of exosomes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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