Mesenchymal Stem Cell–Derived Exosomes and Regenerative Medicine

Stem cells were recently proposed as the magical therapy for most of the diseases. This magical power is attributed to its dual regenerative potential as it can act locally and remotely as well. A deeper understanding of stem cells’ mechanism of action revealed that stem cells can act remotely through elaborating small particles containing specific codes/messengers for regeneration called exosomes. Exosomes derived from stem cells have been demonstrated to enhance proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis due to its unique content of bioactive proteins, lipids, growth factors, cytokines, and a large variety of nucleic acid. More recently, using exosome as a drug delivery device targeting specific factors that are required for regeneration can be engineered by genetically modifying the parent stem cells. Herein, we throw light on exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells, their biogenesis, characteristics, its content, and how this can correlate to its potential therapeutic effect in tissue regeneration. Recently, the exosomes market became one of the fast-growing therapeutic markets and a lot of attempts are ongoing to develop and optimize off-the-shelf exosomes. Thus, we have also highlighted the different factors that influence the quality of isolated exosomes, as this will be critical in clinical applications.