Therapeutic applications of mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles in pain management: A narrative review of emerging evidence and future directions

Figure 4 Extracellular vesicle-mediated modulation of mammalian target of rapamycin-autophagy pathway maintains cellular homeostasis. Inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin enhances autophagic activity, promoting cellular clearance and reducing inflammasome activation. Extracellular vesicle cargo, particularly microRNAs (miR-99 family), can downregulate mammalian target of rapamycin signaling in microglia, inducing autophagy and mitigating chronic microglial activation and neuroinflammatory responses. mTOR: Mammalian target of rapamycin; EVs: Extracellular vesicles.