The role of cardiac exosomes in myocardial repair at the glance

Exosome-based therapy is an emerging novel approach for myocardial infarction (MI) treatment. Exosomes are identified as extracellular vesicles that are produced within multi vesicular bodies in the cells cytosols and then are secreted from the cells. Exosomes are 30-100 nm in diameter that are released from viable cells and are different from other secreted vesicles such as apoptotic bodies and microvesicles in their origin and contents such as RNAs, proteins and nucleic acid. The recent advances in exosomes researches have demonstrated the role of these bio-nanovesicles in the physiolocal, pathological and molecular aspects of the heart. The results of In vitro and preclinical models have shown that exosmes from different cardiac cells can improve the cardiac function following MI. For example, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cardiac progenitor cells(CPCs) containing exosomes can affect proliferation, survival and differentiation of cardiac fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes. Moreover, MSCs and CPCs- derived exosomes can enhance the migration of endothelial cells. Exosome-based therapy approaches augment the cardiac function by multiple means, such as reducing fibrosis, stimulation of vascular angiogenesis and proliferation of cardiomyocytes that result in replacing damaged heart tissue with newly generated functionall myocytes. This review article aims to briefly discuss the recent advancements in the role of secreted exosomes in myocardial repair, by focusing on cardiac cells- derived exosomes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.