Emerging potential of exosomes for treatment of traumatic brain injur y

Ye Xiong; Asim Mahmood; Michael Chopp

doi:10.4103/1673-5374.198966

摘要：Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the major causes of death and disability worldwide. No effective treatment has been identiifed from clinical trials. Compelling evidence exists that treatment with mesen-chymal stem cells (MSCs) exerts a substantial therapeutic effect atfer experimental brain injury. In addition to their soluble factors, therapeutic effects of MSCs may be attributed to their generation and release of exosomes. Exosomes are endosomal origin small-membrane nano-sized vesicles generated by almost all cell types. Exosomes play a pivotal role in intercellular communication. Intravenous delivery of MSC-de-rived exosomes improves functional recovery and promotes neuroplasticity in rats atfer TBI. hTerapeutic effects of exosomes derive from the exosome content, especially microRNAs (miRNAs). miRNAs are small non-coding regulatory RNAs and play an important role in posttranscriptional regulation of genes. Com-pared with their parent cells, exosomes are more stable and can cross the blood-brain barrier. hTey have reduced the safety risks inherent in administering viable cells such as the risk of occlusion in microvascula-ture or unregulated growth of transplanted cells. Developing a cell-free exosome-based therapy may open up a novel approach to enhancing multifaceted aspects of neuroplasticity and to amplifying neurological recovery, potentially for a variety of neural injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. hTis review discusses the most recent knowledge of exosome therapies for TBI, their associated challenges and opportunities.