Engineered exosomes for repairing tissue damage:application potential,excellent biological stability,and targeting specificity
- VernacularTitle:工程化外泌体修复组织损伤:应用潜力及优异的生物稳定性和靶向特异性
- Author:
Wenbin LUO
1
;
Ruoyun LI
;
Chaofan PAN
;
Changjiang LUO
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords: engineered exosome; engineering strategies; tissue repair; tissue engineering; biomaterial; skin soft tissue; bone tissue; neural tissue; heart tissue; liver tissue; regenerative medicine
- From: Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2026;30(1):204-217
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
- Abstract: BACKGROUND:Exosomes are nanoscale extracellular vesicles secreted by various types of cells,with advantages such as high bioavailability,low toxicity,low immunogenicity,and good biocompatibility.However,natural exosomes have certain limitations in clinical therapy.By using bioengineering techniques to modify and engineer exosomes,the engineered exosomes not only improve their original therapeutic effects but also exhibit excellent biostability and targeting specificity,showing great potential for application in the field of tissue repair.OBJECTIVE:To summarize the various strategies for engineering exosomes,including functional loading and surface modification,outline the research progress of engineered exosomes in different tissue repairs,and explore the therapeutic potential of engineered exosomes in tissue repair.METHODS:PubMed database was searched for relevant literature published between 2010 and 2024 using the search terms"engineered exosomes,tissue repair,biomaterials,tissue engineering,wound healing,parenchyma,bone regeneration,cartilage,neural,myocardial,hepatic."Studies that were not closely related to the article's theme,of poor quality,repetitive,or outdated were excluded.A total of 115 articles met the inclusion criteria.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Functional loading is used to combine therapeutic molecules with exosomes to obtain additional properties or to enhance the original physiological function of the exosome,among which ultrasonication and extrusion are simple to operate and can obtain higher drug loading capacity at the same time.(2)Surface modification can make exosomes express desired proteins or enhance their targeting,including genetic engineering and chemical modification.Genetic engineering is complicated,poorly reproducible,and the end product is poorly controllable.Chemical modification,on the other hand,is relatively simple and versatile,and is more suitable for designing highly targeted and functionally specific engineered exosomes.(3)Among the techniques for pre-treating cells to obtain engineered exosomes,hypoxic pre-treatment is more widely used because of its simplicity and clearer mechanism,which can activate glycolysis to promote cell proliferation,and regulate the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor signaling pathway through the generation of hypoxia-inducible factors to promote angiogenesis.(4)The function of exosomes is affected by various factors such as cell source,cell state,synthesis process,and extracellular environment.If the engineering strategy is complicated,it is more difficult to ensure the functional consistency of the final engineered exosomes,so the relatively simple and reliable engineering strategy is more suitable for its clinical application.(5)Engineered exosomes combined with biomaterials or scaffolds can be used to treat complex wounds of skin soft tissue,such as infected wounds and diabetic ulcers.This approach enhances exosome delivery and controls their release,promotes tissue repair,controls infection,and regulates the local microenvironment of the wound.(6)A single mechanism of engineered exosomes is often ineffective due to the specificity of the bone tissue fracture,so dual or even multi-functional engineered exosomes are needed to promote fracture repair while anti-inflammatory or remodeling the vascular system.(7)The source of exosomes has a significant impact on neural tissue repair.Exosomes derived from different neural cells promote neural repair through different effects.In addition,the combination of stents and engineered exosomes for traumatic brain injury has obvious advantages,the stent itself provides hemostasis and support,combined with the engineered exosomes itself to promote the repair effect,can obtain better therapeutic effect.(8)In cardiac and hepatic tissue repair,it is needed to develop anti-fibrotic engineered exosomes to resist the abnormal repair of cardiac and hepatic tissues themselves,which will require further research in the future.
