Review Article

Exosomes and Their Therapeutic Potentials of Stem Cells

Table 1

The function of exosomes derived from different types of stem cells.

TypePhysiological functionTherapeutic functionPathological functionReferences

ESCs Self-renewal and expansionEnhancing survival and expansion of HPSCs [5658]
Inducing gene expression changes in Muller cells of the retina[59]
Wound recovery [60]

MSCsPromoting MSCs proliferationRepairing injured issues like heart, lung, and kidneyPromoting tumor growth [17, 6268]
Cutaneous wound healing, TBI, and stroke[6971]
Exerting immunomodulatory role on lymphocyte subsets [72, 73]
Allogenetic cell-based therapy[74]
Delivering drugs[75, 76]
Antitumor[7779]
Promoting NPCs differentiation[80]

NSCs Regulating NSCs proliferation Antibody targeting exosomes that may reduce viral infectionNeuropathological development of NSCs [8184]
Triggering autoimmunity[85]

EPCsPromoting endothelial survivalProtecting human islets[86, 87]
Steering angiogenesis in acute kidney injury[87]
Promoting angiogenesis in hindlimb ischemia[88]
Protecting H/R induced endothelial cell injury[89]
Protecting cardiomyocytes[90]

HSCs Maintaining stem cell property Increasing survival of endothelial cells[9193]
MVs of CD133+ cells derived from hematopoietic tissues promote angiogenesis[92]
Vaccines for LEX that may enhance survival of patients with leukemia[94]

CPCsSelf-renewal and differentiationCardioprotection
promoting migration of endothelial cells
[9597]
[15]

Note: ESCs: embryonic stem cells; HPSCs: hematopoietic progenitor cells; MSCs: mesenchymal stem cells; TBI: traumatic brain injury; NPCs: neural progenitor cells; NSCs: neural stem cells; EPCs: endothelial progenitor cells; H/R: hypoxia/reoxygenation; HSCs: hematopoietic stem cells; MVs: microvesicles; LEX: leukemia cell-derived exosomes; CPCs: cardiac progenitor cells.