Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the gradual loss of dopamine-producing neurons. Oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, detrimental immune response, and neuroinflammation are mainly responsible for the injury and degeneration of dopaminergic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ana Volarevic, Carl Randall Harrell, Aleksandar Arsenijevic, Valentin Djonov, Vladislav Volarevic
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Cells
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/8/600
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850156104847196160
author Ana Volarevic
Carl Randall Harrell
Aleksandar Arsenijevic
Valentin Djonov
Vladislav Volarevic
author_facet Ana Volarevic
Carl Randall Harrell
Aleksandar Arsenijevic
Valentin Djonov
Vladislav Volarevic
author_sort Ana Volarevic
collection DOAJ
description Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the gradual loss of dopamine-producing neurons. Oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, detrimental immune response, and neuroinflammation are mainly responsible for the injury and degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the brains of patients suffering from PD. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) have emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for treating PD due to their ability to suppress the activation of inflammatory immune cells and enhance the viability and function of dopamine-producing neurons. MSC-EVs can easily bypass the blood-brain barrier and deliver their cargo (neuroprotective factors, immunosuppressive proteins, and microRNAs) to injured dopamine-producing neurons and brain-infiltrated inflammatory immune cells. A large number of recently published experimental studies demonstrated that MSC-EVs efficiently alleviated PD-related motor and behavioral deficits in animal models, indicating that MSC-EVs should be considered as potentially new therapeutic agents for the treatment of PD. Accordingly, in this review article, we summarized current knowledge about the therapeutic potential of MSCs-EVs in the treatment of PD, paving the way for their future clinical use in the treatment of neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders.
format Article
id doaj-art-3f76c3e42836477db4ab112a2b5e6db4
institution OA Journals
issn 2073-4409
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Cells
spelling doaj-art-3f76c3e42836477db4ab112a2b5e6db42025-08-20T02:24:42ZengMDPI AGCells2073-44092025-04-0114860010.3390/cells14080600Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in the Treatment of Parkinson’s DiseaseAna Volarevic0Carl Randall Harrell1Aleksandar Arsenijevic2Valentin Djonov3Vladislav Volarevic4Departments of Psychology, Center for Research on Harmful Effects of Biological and Chemical Hazards, Faculty of Medical Sciences University of Kragujevac, 69 Svetozara Markovica Street, 34000 Kragujevac, SerbiaRegenerative Processing Plant, LLC, 34176 US Highway 19 N, Palm Harbor, FL 34684, USADepartments of Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Research on Harmful Effects of Biological and Chemical Hazards, Faculty of Medical Sciences University of Kragujevac, 69 Svetozara Markovica Street, 34000 Kragujevac, SerbiaInstitute of Anatomy, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 2, 3012 Bern, SwitzerlandDepartments of Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Research on Harmful Effects of Biological and Chemical Hazards, Faculty of Medical Sciences University of Kragujevac, 69 Svetozara Markovica Street, 34000 Kragujevac, SerbiaParkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the gradual loss of dopamine-producing neurons. Oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, detrimental immune response, and neuroinflammation are mainly responsible for the injury and degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the brains of patients suffering from PD. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) have emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for treating PD due to their ability to suppress the activation of inflammatory immune cells and enhance the viability and function of dopamine-producing neurons. MSC-EVs can easily bypass the blood-brain barrier and deliver their cargo (neuroprotective factors, immunosuppressive proteins, and microRNAs) to injured dopamine-producing neurons and brain-infiltrated inflammatory immune cells. A large number of recently published experimental studies demonstrated that MSC-EVs efficiently alleviated PD-related motor and behavioral deficits in animal models, indicating that MSC-EVs should be considered as potentially new therapeutic agents for the treatment of PD. Accordingly, in this review article, we summarized current knowledge about the therapeutic potential of MSCs-EVs in the treatment of PD, paving the way for their future clinical use in the treatment of neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/8/600mesenchymal stem cellsextracellular vesiclesParkinson’s diseasetherapydopaminergic neurons
spellingShingle Ana Volarevic
Carl Randall Harrell
Aleksandar Arsenijevic
Valentin Djonov
Vladislav Volarevic
Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
Cells
mesenchymal stem cells
extracellular vesicles
Parkinson’s disease
therapy
dopaminergic neurons
title Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
title_full Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
title_fullStr Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
title_full_unstemmed Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
title_short Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
title_sort therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cell derived extracellular vesicles in the treatment of parkinson s disease
topic mesenchymal stem cells
extracellular vesicles
Parkinson’s disease
therapy
dopaminergic neurons
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/14/8/600
work_keys_str_mv AT anavolarevic therapeuticpotentialofmesenchymalstemcellderivedextracellularvesiclesinthetreatmentofparkinsonsdisease
AT carlrandallharrell therapeuticpotentialofmesenchymalstemcellderivedextracellularvesiclesinthetreatmentofparkinsonsdisease
AT aleksandararsenijevic therapeuticpotentialofmesenchymalstemcellderivedextracellularvesiclesinthetreatmentofparkinsonsdisease
AT valentindjonov therapeuticpotentialofmesenchymalstemcellderivedextracellularvesiclesinthetreatmentofparkinsonsdisease
AT vladislavvolarevic therapeuticpotentialofmesenchymalstemcellderivedextracellularvesiclesinthetreatmentofparkinsonsdisease