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VIEWPOINT

Mesenchymal stem cells-derived extracellular vesicles as ‘natural’ drug delivery system for tissue regeneration

by KENJI TSUJI^,*, SHINJI KITAMURA, JUN WADA

Department of Nephrology, Rheumatology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Okayama University Academic Field of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan

* Corresponding Author:KENJI TSUJI. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Secretome and Biomaterials: Regenerative Medicine Application)

BIOCELL 2022, 46(4), 899-902. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2022.018594

Received 05 August 2021; Accepted 22 September 2021; Issue published 15 December 2021

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have abilities to mediate tissue protection through mechanisms of anti-apoptosis, anti-oxidative stress and anti-fibrosis as well as tissue regeneration through mechanisms of cell proliferation, differentiation and angiogenesis. These effects by MSCs are mediated by a variety of factors, including growth factors, cytokines and extracellular vesicles (EVs). Among these factors, EVs, containing proteins, mRNA and microRNAs (miRNA), may carry their contents into distant tissues with high stability. Therefore, the treatment with MSC-derived EVs may be promising as ‘natural’ drug delivery systems (DDS). Especially, the treatment of MSC-derived EVs with the manipulation of specific miRNAs expression has been reported to be beneficial under a variety of diseases and tissue injuries. The overexpression of specific miRNAs in the EVs might be through pre-loading method using the gene editing system by plasmid vector or post-loading method to load miRNA mimics into EVs by electroporation or calcium chloride-mediated transfection. Despite current several challenges for clinical use, it should open the next era of regenerative medicine for a variety of diseases. In this article, we highlight the therapeutic potential of MSC-derived EVs as ‘natural’ DDS and current challenges.

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