Advancing Tissue Damage Repair in Geriatric Diseases: Prospects of Combining Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes with Hydrogels

Abstract

Geriatric diseases are a group of diseases with unique characteristics related to senility. With the rising trend of global aging, senile diseases now mainly include endocrine, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, skeletal, and muscular diseases and cancer. Compared with younger populations, the structure and function of various cells, tissues and organs in the body of the elderly undergo a decline as they age, rendering them more susceptible to external factors and diseases, leading to serious tissue damage. Tissue damage presents a significant obstacle to the overall health and well-being of older adults, exerting a profound impact on their quality of life. Moreover, this phenomenon places an immense burden on families, society, and the healthcare system.In recent years, stem cell-derived exosomes have become a hot topic in tissue repair research. The combination of these exosomes with biomaterials allows for the preservation of their biological activity, leading to a significant improvement in their therapeutic efficacy. Among the numerous biomaterial options available, hydrogels stand out as promising candidates for loading exosomes, owing to their exceptional properties. Due to the lack of a comprehensive review on the subject matter, this review comprehensively summarizes the application and progress of combining stem cell-derived exosomes and hydrogels in promoting tissue damage repair in geriatric diseases. In addition, the challenges encountered in the field and potential prospects are presented for future advancements.

Keywords:

• exosomes
• biomaterials
• hydrogels
• geriatric diseases
• injury repair

Acknowledgments

We thank Bullet Edits Limited for the linguistic editing and proofreading of the manuscript.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Central Finance Supports Local Colleges and Universities Talent Development Funding from Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Finance [2020GSP09]; 2021 Heilongjiang Province key research and development plan project[GZ20210121].