Abstract
Mineralizing osteoblasts (MOBs) can release exosomes, although the functional significance remains unclear. In the present study, we demonstrate that exosomes derived from mineralizing pre-osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells can promote bone marrow stromal cell (ST2) differentiation to osteoblasts. We reveal that MOB-derived exosomes significantly influence miRNA profiles in recipient ST2 cells, and these changes tend to activate the Wnt signaling pathway by inhibiting Axin1 expression and increasing β-catenin expression. We also suggest that MOB derived-exosomes partly induce the variation in miRNA expression in recipient ST2 cells by exosomal miRNA transfer. These findings suggest an exosome-mediated mode of cell-to-cell communication in the osteogenic microenvironment, and also indicate the potential of MOB exosomes in bone tissue engineering.