Functional engineering of adipose-derived stem cell exosomes and its application in soft tissue regeneration
- 1The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510280 China
- 2Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 1838 Guangzhou North Road, Guangzhou, 510515 Guangdong P. R. China
Abstract
Background: Adipose-derived stem cell exosomes are increasingly recognized as promising cell-free mediators for soft tissue repair because of their favorable biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and broad paracrine activity. By transferring regulatory RNAs, proteins, lipids, and other bioactive molecules, they participate in key regenerative processes, including angiogenesis, immune modulation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and cellular proliferation. However, native adipose-derived stem cell exosomes still face important translational limitations, including limited targeting specificity, variable cargo composition, rapid clearance, and insufficient retention at injured sites.
Main body: Recent advances in exosome engineering provide new opportunities to enhance the regenerative performance of adipose-derived stem cell exosomes. Function-oriented strategies include parental-cell preconditioning, genetic engineering, direct cargo loading, surface modification, and biomaterial-assisted delivery. These approaches can enrich therapeutic cargos, improve lesion-specific targeting, prolong local retention, and enable sustained or microenvironment-responsive release. Current applications are mainly concentrated in wound healing, muscle repair, and adipose tissue regeneration or fat grafting, while tendon-to-bone healing and peripheral nerve repair represent emerging areas with growing preclinical evidence. This review summarizes the biological basis, engineering strategies, application scenarios, and translational challenges of engineered adipose-derived stem cell exosomes in defined soft tissue regenerative settings.
Conclusion: Although engineered adipose-derived stem cell exosomes show encouraging potential for soft tissue regeneration, clinical translation remains at an early stage. Future development should focus on mechanism-guided cargo design, precise targeting, responsive delivery systems, standardized characterization, and clinically scalable production. These advances may support the development of next-generation cell-free therapies for specific soft tissue repair indications.
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BibTeX
@article{lu2026functional,
title = {{Functional engineering of adipose-derived stem cell exosomes and its application in soft tissue regeneration}},
author = {Lingyan Lu and Juzi Liu and Ye Li and Junrong Cai},
journal = {Stem Cell Research \& Therapy},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s13287-026-05153-8},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13287-026-05153-8},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Functional engineering of adipose-derived stem cell exosomes and its application in soft tissue regeneration
AU - Lingyan Lu
AU - Juzi Liu
AU - Ye Li
AU - Junrong Cai
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/28
JO - Stem Cell Research & Therapy
DO - 10.1186/s13287-026-05153-8
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13287-026-05153-8
AB - Background: Adipose-derived stem cell exosomes are increasingly recognized as promising cell-free mediators for soft tissue repair because of their favorable biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and broad paracrine activity. By transferring regulatory RNAs, proteins, lipids, and other bioactive molecules, they participate in key regenerative processes, including angiogenesis, immune modulation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and cellular proliferation. However, native adipose-derived stem cell exosomes still face important translational limitations, including limited targeting specificity, variable cargo composition, rapid clearance, and insufficient retention at injured sites. Main body: Recent advances in exosome engineering provide new opportunities to enhance the regenerative performance of adipose-derived stem cell exosomes. Function-oriented strategies include parental-cell preconditioning, genetic engineering, direct cargo loading, surface modification, and biomaterial-assisted delivery. These approaches can enrich therapeutic cargos, improve lesion-specific targeting, prolong local retention, and enable sustained or microenvironment-responsive release. Current applications are mainly concentrated in wound healing, muscle repair, and adipose tissue regeneration or fat grafting, while tendon-to-bone healing and peripheral nerve repair represent emerging areas with growing preclinical evidence. This review summarizes the biological basis, engineering strategies, application scenarios, and translational challenges of engineered adipose-derived stem cell exosomes in defined soft tissue regenerative settings. Conclusion: Although engineered adipose-derived stem cell exosomes show encouraging potential for soft tissue regeneration, clinical translation remains at an early stage. Future development should focus on mechanism-guided cargo design, precise targeting, responsive delivery systems, standardized characterization, and clinically scalable production. These advances may support the development of next-generation cell-free therapies for specific soft tissue repair indications.
SN - 1757-6512
ER -