Exosomes as Potential Functional Nanomaterials for Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Exosomes are cell‐derived extracellular vesicles of 40–160 nm diameter, which carry numerous biomolecules and transmit information between cells. They are used as functional nanomaterials with great potential in biomedical areas, such as active agents and delivery systems for advanced drug delivery and disease therapy. In recent years, potential applications of exosomes in tissue engineering have attracted significant attention, and some critical progress has been made. This review gives a complete picture of exosomes and their applications in the regeneration of various tissues, such as the central nervous systems, kidney, bone, cartilage, heart, and endodontium. Approaches employed for modifying exosomes to equip them with excellent targeting capacity are summarized. Furthermore, current concerns and future outlook of exosomes in tissue engineering are discussed.

Dapagliflozin‐Loaded Exosome Mimetics Facilitate Diabetic Wound Healing by HIF‐1α‐Mediated Enhancement of Angiogenesis

“…The abundant membrane CXCR4 conferred the EC‐targeting ability of these NVs and the endothelial homology promoted the accumulation in ECs. [ 24 ] In this study, we further explored the EC‐targeting effects of exosome mimetics of iPS‐EC NV and DA@iPS‐EC NV. The membrane of iPS‐EC NV was labeled with DiD (red).…”

“…[ 23 ] The difficult purification, low yield, and high cost have blocked the biomedical applications of exosomes or extracellular vesicles. [ 24–26 ] Owing to the current limitations of exosome production, some studies have introduced an extrusion approach to preparing nanovesicles (NVs) as mimetics for exosomes. [ 23,27 ] For example, Cui et al.…”

“…[23] The difficult purification, low yield, and high cost have blocked the biomedical applications of exosomes or extracellular vesicles. [24][25][26] Owing to the current limitations of exosome production, some studies have introduced an extrusion approach to preparing nanovesicles (NVs) as mimetics for exosomes. [23,27] For example, Cui et al utilized a classical serial extrusion approach to generate NVs from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-derived ECs (iPS-ECs) to treat osteoporosis.…”

Tissue-Engineered Nanomaterials Play Diverse Roles in Bone Injury Repair

“…Figure 6 shows that exosomes with a nanostructure similar to liposomes are also composed of lipid bilayers. They are extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by various types of natural cells and are found in physiological fluids such as plasma, interstitial fluid, and saliva [125]. Exosomes in humans transport loaded contents from host to recipient cells, enabling information exchange between them (Figure 6c).…”

The biological applications of exosomal-based materials in bone/cartilage tissue engineering

“…Recently, the exosomes have been widely investigated for bone tissues regeneration, which could act as the carriers of various genes or drugs and alsoregulate the bone formation process themselves. (Guo et al, 2021a;Bei et al, 2021;Chang et al, 2022;Yao et al, 2022) Exosomes are identified as the nanovesicles which could be constitutively released by plasma membrane fusion, with the responsibility of mediating local and systemic cell-to-cell interaction by transferring the mRNAs, miRNAs, or proteins. (Kalluri and LeBleu, 2020;Kimiz-Gebologlu and Oncel, 2022) Exosomes, with the nanostructures ranging from 50 nm to 200 nm, are an emerging promising therapeutic nanomaterials in biomedical fields, such as targeted drug delivery, clinical diagnosis, and immune regulation.…”