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Review
. 2021 Jun 3:12:684496.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.684496. eCollection 2021.

Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: A Potential Therapeutic Strategy for Acute Kidney Injury

Jia-Kun Li  1 , Cheng Yang  2 , Ying Su  1 , Jing-Chao Luo  1 , Ming-Hao Luo  3 , Dan-Lei Huang  3 , Guo-Wei Tu  1 , Zhe Luo  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: A Potential Therapeutic Strategy for Acute Kidney Injury

Jia-Kun Li et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common and potential life-threatening disease in patients admitted to hospital, affecting 10%-15% of all hospitalizations and around 50% of patients in the intensive care unit. Severe, recurrent, and uncontrolled AKI may progress to chronic kidney disease or end-stage renal disease. AKI thus requires more efficient, specific therapies, rather than just supportive therapy. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are considered to be promising cells for cellular therapy because of their ease of harvesting, low immunogenicity, and ability to expand in vitro. Recent research indicated that the main therapeutic effects of MSCs were mediated by MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs). Furthermore, compared with MSCs, MSC-EVs have lower immunogenicity, easier storage, no tumorigenesis, and the potential to be artificially modified. We reviewed the therapeutic mechanism of MSCs and MSC-EVs in AKI, and considered recent research on how to improve the efficacy of MSC-EVs in AKI. We also summarized and analyzed the potential and limitations of EVs for the treatment of AKI to provide ideas for future clinical trials and the clinical application of MSC-EVs in AKI.

Keywords: acute kidney injury; cytokine; extracellular vesicle; mesenchymal stem cell; tubular epithelial cell.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The handling editor has declared past co-authorships with one of the authors (CY) in the time of review.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
MSC-EVs mediate transportation of biological modules to injured cells in AKI. Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 2
Figure 2
MSC-EVs carry various contents to exert therapeutic effects in AKI. Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 3
Figure 3
MSC-EVs mediate immune regulation in AKI. Created with BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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