Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2024, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (7): 1118-1123.doi: 10.12307/2024.111

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Artificial exosomes in treatment of myocardial infarction: current status and prospects

Liu Hanfeng, Wang Jingjing, Yu Yunsheng   

  1. Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Soochow University, Suzhou 215000, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Received:2023-01-12 Accepted:2023-03-23 Online:2024-03-08 Published:2023-07-17
  • Contact: Yu Yunsheng, MD, Chief physician, Associate professor, Master’s supervisor, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Soochow University, Suzhou 215000, Jiangsu Province, China
  • About author:Liu Hanfeng, Master candidate, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Soochow University, Suzhou 215000, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Supported by:
    Scientific Research Project of Jiangsu Provincial Health Commission, No. ZDA2020017 (to YYS)

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction is one of the most serious cardiovascular diseases at present, and the existing clinical treatment options such as thrombolytic therapy, percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting cannot fully restore the myocardial damage caused by ischemia. Stem cell-derived exosomes for the treatment of myocardial infarction have been a hot research topic in recent years, but the low yield of natural-derived exosomes, the difficulty and time consuming nature of obtaining them, and the poor homing effect have limited their clinical application. In this context, the construction of artificial exosomes as an alternative to natural exosomes has become an effective strategy to solve the above problems.  
OBJECTIVE: To expound the research status of artificial exosomes in the treatment of myocardial infarction, and classify them into two design modes: semi-artificial and full-artificial, and discuss the research progress and problems of the two modes, finally, make the evaluation and prospect of its clinical application in the future.
METHODS: PubMed and CNKI were searched for relevant articles with “artificial exosomes, myocardial infarction, engineering” in Chinese, and “artificial exosome, hybrid exosome, myocardial infarction, nanoparticle, drug delivery system” in English. The focus of the search was from January 2017 to December 2022, and some of the classic forward literature was included. A preliminary selection was conducted through reading titles and abstracts. Repetitive studies, low-quality journals and irrelevant articles were excluded. Finally, 73 articles were included for review.  
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) By semi-artificially modifying exosomes, whether it is the modification of targeting peptides, hybridization of biofilms or the assistance of magnetic substances, traditional exosome therapies with insufficient targeting and low retention rate and easy to be cleared by the reticuloendothelial system have improved the efficiency of traditional exosome therapy for myocardial infarction. However, these strategies have problems such as unclear modification efficiency, medical ethics, and biotoxicity. (2) Fully artificial bionic exosomes have a higher degree of design freedom compared to exosome modification, which can solve the problems of high extraction and storage difficulties of exosomes of natural origin and limitations of large-scale production; however, this artificial exosome strategy still lacks reliable preclinical data support and biosafety testing, and has not yet formed a standardized process required for large-scale production; therefore, before applying to the clinic, the artificial exosome solution as an alternative to natural exosomes still needs continuous in-depth research by researchers.

Key words: artificial exosome, stem cell, myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease, non-cellular therapy, bioengineering technology, drug delivery system, extracellular vesicle, biomimetic nanotechnology

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