Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: Promising Therapeutic Opportunities for Diabetic Wound Healing

Int J Nanomedicine. 2024 May 17:19:4357-4375. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S461342. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Wound healing is a sophisticated and orderly process of cellular interactions in which the body restores tissue architecture and functionality following injury. Healing of chronic diabetic wounds is difficult due to impaired blood circulation, a reduced immune response, and disrupted cellular repair mechanisms, which are often associated with diabetes. Stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (SC-EVs) hold the regenerative potential, encapsulating a diverse cargo of proteins, RNAs, and cytokines, presenting a safe, bioactivity, and less ethical issues than other treatments. SC-EVs orchestrate multiple regenerative processes by modulating cellular communication, increasing angiogenesis, and promoting the recruitment and differentiation of progenitor cells, thereby potentiating the reparative milieu for diabetic wound healing. Therefore, this review investigated the effects and mechanisms of EVs from various stem cells in diabetic wound healing, as well as their limitations and challenges. Continued exploration of SC-EVs has the potential to revolutionize diabetic wound care.

Keywords: EVs; diabetes; ncRNAs; regeneration; stem cells; wound healing.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Communication / physiology
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Diabetes Complications / therapy
  • Diabetes Mellitus* / therapy
  • Extracellular Vesicles* / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Neovascularization, Physiologic
  • Stem Cells*
  • Wound Healing* / drug effects

Grants and funding

This study was supported by financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 82202461), the Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers: 2021CFB043, 2022CFB226, and 2023AFB717), and the Research Foundation Project of Tongji Hospital (grant number: 2022A16).