Exosome Therapy to Repair Age- and Sun-Damaged Skin
Researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated that exosomes harvested from human skin cells can repair sun-damaged skin cells in mice. The therapy also appears to be more effective than retinol and stem cell treatment, and best of all, delivery of the therapy is needle-free.
Researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated that exosomes harvested from human skin cells can repair sun-damaged skin cells in mice. The therapy also appears to be more effective than retinol and stem cell treatment, and best of all, delivery of the therapy is needle-free.
What are exosomes?
Exosomes are essentially membrane-wrapped packages that contain proteins and other molecules, are produced and released by cells, and deliver messages to other cells. When nearby cells intercept these packages, they change their behavior based on the information contained in these packages. You might think of exosomes being almost like messages in bottles traveling in the bloodstream between cells.
Extracellular vesicles have attracted significant interest in the scientific community in recent years due to their role in extracellular signaling. It has been known for a long time that cells release exosomes into the extracellular environment during apoptosis (cell death). However, the fact that healthy cells also release vesicles into the extracellular environment has only been realized more recently, and researchers are now busy finding ways to use the beneficial exosomes to treat diseases.
Repairing photoaging
The researchers of this new study wanted to see if exosomes might be used as an effective approach to skin repair. The first step was to take human skin cells and allow them to replicate in a special 3D media that allowed the cells to stick to each other to form a spheroid-shaped mass. These spheroids produce more potent exosomes than cells grown in traditional media, making the method ideal for mass production and harvesting of secreted exosomes.
Next, they took photoaged mice and compared the performance of their 3D exosomes with a control group, a cream containing retinol, exosomes harvested from cells grown in traditional media, and exosomes harvested from bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).
The researchers examined changes in skin thickness and the production of collagen following treatment and discovered that the exosomes from their 3D media increased skin thickness by 20% compared to untreated control mice. Skin thickness was also 5% better than MSC exosome-treated mice. Collagen production was also increased by 30% in the mice given exosomes from the 3D media, which made the 3D-derived exosomes the second most-effective treatment in this respect.
Reference:https://www.leafscience.org/exosome-therapy-to-repair-age-and-sun-damaged-skin/
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