Humoral factors that are secreted from skeletal muscles can regulate bone metabolism and contribute to muscle-bone relationships. Although extracellular vesicles (EVs) play important roles in physiological and pathophysiological processes, the roles of EVs that are secreted from skeletal muscles in bone repair have remained unclear. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the local administration of muscle cell-derived EVs on bone repair in control and streptozotocin-treated diabetic female mice. Muscle cell-derived EVs (Myo-EVs) were isolated from the conditioned medium from mouse muscle C2C12 cells by ultracentrifugation, after which Myo-EVs and gelatin hydrogel sheets were transplanted on femoral bone defect sites. The local administration of Myo-EVs significantly improved delayed bone repair that was induced by the diabetic state in mice 9 days after surgery. Moreover, this administration significantly enhanced the ratio of bone volume to tissue volume at the damaged sites 9 days after surgery in the control mice. Moreover, the local administration of Myo-EVs significantly blunted the number of Osterix-positive cells that were suppressed by the diabetic state at the damage sites after bone injury in mice. Additionally, Myo-EVs significantly blunted the mRNA levels of Osterix and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and ALP activity was suppressed by advanced glycation end product 3 in ST2 cells that were treated with bone morphogenetic protein-2. In conclusion, we have shown for the first time that the local administration of Myo-EVs improves delayed bone repair that is induced by the diabetic state through an enhancement of osteoblastic differentiation in female mice.
Keywords: Bone repair; Diabetes; Extracellular vesicles; Gelatin hydrogel; Muscle-bone interaction.