Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Apr 26, 2023; 15(4): 165-181
Published online Apr 26, 2023. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v15.i4.165
Extracellular vesicles: Emerged as a promising strategy for regenerative medicine
Dian-Ri Wang, Jian Pan
Dian-Ri Wang, Jian Pan, State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Wang DR and Pan J wrote the manuscript; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by The Interdisciplinary and Intercollege Research Project of the State Key Laboratory of Oral Disease, Sichuan University, No. 2021KXK0403; and Health Commission of Sichuan Province, No. 21PJ062.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jian Pan, PhD, Doctor, State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, No. 14 Third Section, Renmin Road South, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. jianpancn@scu.edu.cn
Received: December 20, 2022
Peer-review started: December 20, 2022
First decision: January 9, 2023
Revised: January 30, 2023
Accepted: March 20, 2023
Article in press: March 20, 2023
Published online: April 26, 2023
Abstract

Cell transplantation therapy has certain limitations including immune rejection and limited cell viability, which seriously hinder the transformation of stem cell-based tissue regeneration into clinical practice. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) not only possess the advantages of its derived cells, but also can avoid the risks of cell transplantation. EVs are intelligent and controllable biomaterials that can participate in a variety of physiological and pathological activities, tissue repair and regeneration by transmitting a variety of biological signals, showing great potential in cell-free tissue regeneration. In this review, we summarized the origins and characteristics of EVs, introduced the pivotal role of EVs in diverse tissues regeneration, discussed the underlying mechanisms, prospects, and challenges of EVs. We also pointed out the problems that need to be solved, application directions, and prospects of EVs in the future and shed new light on the novel cell-free strategy for using EVs in the field of regenerative medicine.

Keywords: Mesenchymal stem cells, Extracellular vesicles, Regenerative medicine, Cell-free strategy

Core Tip: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a critical role in tissue repair and regeneration medicine via cell-to-cell communication. In this review, we elaborate and discuss both the recent research progress and the advancements in the therapeutic effects and limitations of EVs in tissue regeneration and engineering medicine. Moreover, we summarize the underlying molecular mechanisms related to EV repair effects and point out the problems that need to be solved, application directions, and prospects of EVs in the future.