The clinical need for effective bone regeneration therapy remains in huge demands. However, the current "gold standard" treatments of autologous and allogeneic bone grafts may result in various complications. Furthermore, safety considerations of biomaterials and cell-based treatment require further clarification. Therefore, developing new therapies with stronger osteogenic potential and a lower incidence of complications is worthwhile. Recently, exosomes, small vesicles of endocytic origin, have attracted attention in bone regeneration field. The vesicles travel between cells and deliver functional cargoes, such as proteins and RNAs, thereby regulating targeted cells differentiation, commitment, function, and proliferation. Much evidence has demonstrated the important roles of exosomes in osteogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we summarize the properties, origins and biogenesis of exosomes, and the recent reports using exosomes to regulate osteogenesis and promote bone regeneration.
Keywords: bone regeneration; exosome; osteogenesis.