Exosomes derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells attenuate hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion injury via the let-7i-5p/Faslg axis

Figure 7 Schematic illustration of the therapeutic mechanism of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes in hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion injury. Hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion injury induces hepatocyte damage and triggers apoptosis. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes target the injured liver via very late antigen-4/Lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1-mediated adhesion interactions. The therapeutic effects of these exosomes primarily involve the inhibition of the death receptor-mediated extrinsic apoptotic pathway through the downregulation of factor-related apoptosis ligand expression; and the inhibition of the mitochondrial-mediated intrinsic apoptotic pathway by modulating the B-cell lymphoma-2/B-cell lymphoma-2-associated X protein expression ratio. This process synergistically suppresses hepatocyte apoptosis. HucMSC-exos: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes; VLA-4: Very late antigen-4; LFA-1: Lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1; Bcl-2: B-cell lymphoma-2; Bax: B-cell lymphoma-2-associated X protein; Fas: Factor-related apoptosis; Faslg: Factor-related apoptosis ligand; VCAM-1: Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1; ICAM-1: Intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1.