Stem cell exosomes: Cell-freetherapy for organ repair

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality around the world. The damaged cardiac tissue is unable to repair itself following injury warranting the development of alternate therapies. Cell therapy has emerged recently as a viable treatment option resulting in significant improvement in cardiac function. Nevertheless, donated stem cells are hard to find in the heart after transplantation leading to the hypothesis that release of extracellular factors by stem cells is primarily responsible for the beneficial effect of cell therapy. Exosomes represent the bioactive component of stem cells and have been shown to recapitulate salutary effects of cell therapy on myocardial repair after injury. Here, we discuss the methodologies regarding the isolation and characterization of exosomes derived from stem cells.