Exosome and spinal cord injury

Exosomes are the best characterized type of membrane vesicles secreted from different cells. Exosomes play arole in transportation of proteins and RNAs in the intracellular pathways. This class of membrane vesiclescomprises an important part of the cell paracrine secretion presenting key effects in neurodegenerative diseasessuch as spinal cord injury (SCI). Known as a devastative traumatic damage, SCI causes extensive neural celldeath resulting in sensorimotor dysfunctions due to the interruption of anatomical spinal pathways. Mesenchymalstem cells (MSCs) as an ideal cell origin of exosomes have demonstrated therapeutic effects after transportationinto the injured animal spinal cords. These beneficial effects of MSCs are attributed to the secreted exosomes.The potential of MSCs- derived exosomes to treat the SCI has been increasingly investigated in a body ofstudies. Data from these studies disclosed the capability of MSCs- derived exosomes to improve the SCI viaameliorating the inflammation and apoptosis and inducing the angiogenesis. Furthermore, in respect of the factthat membrane vesicles are able to carry small molecules, exosomes have been considered as new delivery toolsfor targeting drugs in central nervous system.Here, we reviewed the investigations that introduced the MSCs- derived exosomes as a new therapeutic strategyfor SCI.

Keywords:

Exosome , Spinal cord injury , Mesenchymal stem cells , Neurodegenerative diseases