Adipose Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes Promote Wound Healing Through the WNT/β-catenin Signaling Pathway in Dermal Fibroblasts

Abstract

The differentiation, migration, and proliferation of skin fibroblasts are identified as key factors in cutaneous wound healing. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) and their exosomes (ADMSC-Exos) have been considered as potential therapeutic tools for tissue regeneration; however, the underlying mechanisms on cutaneous wound healing are still not well understood. In this study, we successfully obtained ADMSC-Exos and found ADMSC-Exos significantly promoted the migration and proliferation of fibroblasts in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. The expression levels of COL-I and COL-III in fibroblasts treated with ADMSC-Exos were significantly increased, while the expression level of α-SMA was decreased. In addition, the enhanced protein expression of WNT2b and β-catenin confirmed the activation of the WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway and the WNT/β-catenin inhibitor (XAV939) reversed the promoting effect of ADMSC-Exos on wound healing and the β-catenin expression. Taken together, our study partially elucidates the mechanism of ADMSC-Exos in wound healing, illustrating the potential of ADMSC-Exos as a new therapeutic approach to promote skin wound healing.