title: Exosomes/tricalcium phosphate combination scaffolds can enhance bone regeneration by activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.
abstract: Recently, accumulating evidence has shown that exosomes, the naturally secreted nanocarriers of cells, can exert therapeutic effects in various disease models in the absence of parent cells. However, application of exosomes in bone defect repair and regeneration has been rarely reported, and little is known regarding their underlying mechanisms.
  
  
  
  Exosomes derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hiPS-MSC-Exos) were combined with tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) to repair critical-sized calvarial bone defects, and the efficacy was assessed by histological examination. We evaluated the in vitro effects of hiPSC-MSC-Exos on the proliferation, migration, and osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) by cell-counting, scratch assays, and qRT-PCR, respectively. Gene expression profiling and bioinformatics analyses were also used to identify the underlying mechanisms in the repair.
  
  
  
  We found that the exosome/β-TCP combination scaffolds could enhance osteogenesis as compared to pure β-TCP scaffolds. In vitro assays showed that the exosomes could release from β-TCP and could be internalized by hBMSCs. In addition, the internalization of exosomes into hBMSCs could profoundly enhance the proliferation, migration, and osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. Furthermore, gene expression profiling and bioinformatics analyses demonstrated that exosome/β-TCP combination scaffolds significantly altered the expression of a network of genes involved in the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Functional studies further confirmed that the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway was the critical mediator during the exosome-induced osteogenic responses of hBMSCs.
  
  
  
  We propose that the exosomes can enhance the osteoinductivity of β-TCP through activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway of hBMSCs, which means that the exosome/β-TCP combination scaffolds possess better osteogenesis activity than pure β-TCP scaffolds. These results indicate that naturally secreted nanocarriers-exosomes can be used as a bioactive material to improve the bioactivity of the biomaterials, and that hiPS-MSC-Exos combined with β-TCP scaffolds can be potentially used for repairing bone defects.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microsurgery on Extremities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China.|Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Jieyuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microsurgery on Extremities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China.|Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Med-X Research Institute, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai, 200030, China.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Nanchang University, 461 Bayi Road, Nanchang, 330006, China.
authors.forename: Chunyuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microsurgery on Extremities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microsurgery on Extremities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microsurgery on Extremities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China.
authors.forename: Bizeng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China. x91034@qq.com.
authors.forename: Zongping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microsurgery on Extremities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, China. wangy63cn@126.com.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D055354:Exosomes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000637:transplantation*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D010012:Osteogenesis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction; D012886:Skull / Q000293:injuries; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D002130:Calcium Phosphates; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; C018392:tricalcium phosphate
keywords: Bone regeneration; Exosomes; Microarray; PI3K/Akt; Tricalcium phosphate; iPS-MSCs