Alternatives of mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes as potential therapeutic platforms

Abstract

With outstanding therapeutic potential in the tissue regeneration and anti-inflammation, mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-EXOs) have emerged as a prominent therapeutic in recent. However, poor production yield and reproducibility have remained as significant challenges of their practical applications. To surmount these challenges, various alternative materials with stem cell-like functions, have been recently investigated, however, there has been no comprehensive analysis in these alternatives so far. Here, we discuss the recent progress of alternatives of MSC-EXOs, including exosomes and exosome-like nanovesicles from various biological sources such as plants, milk, microbes, and body fluids. Moreover, we extensively compare each alternative by summarizing their unique functions and mode of actions to suggest the expected therapeutic target and future directions for developing alternatives for MSC-EXOs.

Keywords: exosomes; extracellular vesicles; membrane vesicles; nanovesicles; regenerative medicine.

FIGURE 1

Representative examples of alternative exosomes or exosome-like nanovesicles and their potential therapeutic targets (Illustrated by S. Y. Jung by using Microsoft PowerPoint).