Open Access

REVIEW

Neural stem cell-derived exosomes: a cell-free transplant for potential cure of neurological diseases

JIAJUN HUANG^1,#, WEI WANG^1,#, WENTONG LIN², HENGSEN CAI³, ZHIHAN ZHU¹, WAQAS AHMED⁴, QIANKUN ZHANG¹, JIALE LIU¹, YIFAN ZHANG¹, RONG LI¹, ZHINUO LI¹, AHSAN ALI KHAN⁵, DENG LU³, YONG HU⁶, LUKUI CHEN^1,*

1 Department of Neurosurgery, Southern Medical University Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510310, China
2 Department of Orthopaedics, Chaozhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chaozhou, 521011, China
3 Department of Neurosurgery, The Second People’s Hospital of Pingnan, Pingnan, 537300, China
4 Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China
5 Section of Neurosurgery, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, 74800, Pakistan
6 Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, China

* Corresponding Author: LUKUI CHEN. Email:
# These authors contributed equally to this work and shared first authorship

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Exosomes in Cell Communication and Disease: From Biomarkers to Therapeutic Targets)

BIOCELL 2024, 48(10), 1405-1418. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2024.053148

Received 25 April 2024; Accepted 08 July 2024; Issue published 02 October 2024

Abstract

Degeneration and death of nerve cells are inevitable with the occurrence and progression of nervous system disorders. Researchers transplanted neural stem cells into relevant areas, trying to solve the difficulty of neural cell loss by differentiating neural stem cells into various nerve cells. In recent years, however, studies have shown that transplanted neural stem cells help neural tissues regenerate and return to normal through paracrine action rather than just replacing cells. Exosomes are essential paracrine mediators, which can participate in cell communication through substance transmission. In this regard, this review mainly discusses the current research progress of neural stem cell-derived exosomes. This paper mainly introduces the self-regulation of neural stem cells (NSCs)-derived exosomes on neural stem cells to clarify the role of NSCs-derived exosomes in the nervous system; the therapeutic effect of NSCs-derived exosomes on various neurological diseases; introduces different studies of NSCs-derived exosomes, showing more in-depth research results of NSCs-derived exosomes. It presents some ideas to provide a reference for subsequent research on neural stem cell-derived exosomes.

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Keywords

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