Exosomes from Heart Cells Can Be Therapeutic in Trauma Care

From Genetic Engineering News

Nanoscale, secreted sacs called exosomes bud off from cellular membranes to fulfill diverse functions such as remodeling the tissue matrix and transmitting signals. Their important roles in many aspects of human health and disease, make them ideal therapeutic agents or delivery systems in treating multiple diseases.

In a new preclinical study published by Capricor Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on developing exosome-based therapeutics, and their collaborators at the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR), scientists explore the therapeutic potential of exosomes isolated from a population of regenerative progenitor cells that give rise to cells in the heart.

The authors use exosomes called cardiosphere-derived exosomes (CDC-EVs) to treat a rat model of acute traumatic coagulopathy (ATC)—where blood in circulation clots due to trauma. The findings are reported in the article titled, “Extracellular vesicles derived from cardiosphere-derived cells as a potential antishock therapeutic” published in The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery.