Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are pluripotent stem cells that have great potential in the field of regenerative medicine. Extracellular vesicles that derived from MSCs inherit the bioactive molecules, including lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, from the donate cells. With similar biological functions as MSCs, MSC-EVs show lower toxicity, better biocompatibility, stability, and less immune rejection. Therefore, MSC-EVs are emerging as a cell-free alternative therapy for MSC-based cell therapy. Here, we reviewed the characteristics of different subtype of MSC-EVs, the functional molecules in MSC-EVs for tissue repair, the potential applications of MSC-EVs for different tissue injuries in recent three years, and the clinical progress as well as the existing challenges in MSC-EV based therapy. This review would provide some insights for the future researches and clinical translation of MSC-EVs in regenerative medicine.