Exosomes derived from M2 macrophages induce angiogenesis to promote wound healing

Leifeng Lyu; Yuanqing Cai; Guangyang Zhang; Zhaopu Jing; Jialin Liang; Rupeng Zhang; Xiaoqian Dang; Chen Zhang

doi:10.3389/fmolb.2022.1008802

Exosomes derived from M2 macrophages induce angiogenesis to promote wound healing

Front Mol Biosci. 2022 Oct 11:9:1008802. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.1008802. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Leifeng Lyu¹, Yuanqing Cai¹, Guangyang Zhang¹, Zhaopu Jing¹, Jialin Liang¹, Rupeng Zhang¹, Xiaoqian Dang¹, Chen Zhang¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Orthopedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.

Abstract

There is an urgent clinical need for an appropriate method to shorten skin healing time. Among most factors related to wound healing, M2 macrophages will be recruited to the wound area and play a pivotal role in a time-limiting factor, angiogenesis. The exploration of exosomes derived from M2 in angiogenesis promotion is an attractive research field. In this project, we found that exosomes from M2 (M2-EXO) promoted the angiogenic ability of HUVECs in vitro. With a series of characteristic experiments, we demonstrated that M2-EXO inhibited PTEN expression in HUVECs by transferring miR-21, and further activated AKT/mTOR pathway. Then, using a full-thickness cutaneous wound mice model, we demonstrated that M2-EXO could be used as a promotor of angiogenesis and regeneration in vivo. Furthermore, M2-EXO-treated skin wounds exhibited regeneration of functional microstructures. These results demonstrate that M2-EXO can be used as a promising nanomedicine strategy for therapeutic exploration of skin healing with the potential to be translated into clinical practice.

Keywords: M2 macrophages; angiogenesis; exosomes; tissue repair; wound healing.