Therapeutic potential of stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles in aging and regeneration

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Aging is characterized by measurable reductions in tissue repair, immune balance, and metabolic regulation. Increasing evidence suggests that these changes may arise, in part, from an insufficiency or altered quality of endogenous extracellular vesicle (EV) signaling. EVs, including exosomes, carry regenerative and immunoregulatory cues, and age-related alterations in their abundance, cargo, and bioactivity have been linked to impaired cellular communication across organ systems. This has fueled growing interest in stem cell-derived EVs, which provide biologically more youthful vesicles that reproduce key paracrine functions of their parent cells while avoiding the limitations of cell transplantation. By transferring defined protein, lipid, and RNA cargoes, these vesicles influence pathways central to aging biology, including mitochondrial function, inflammatory control, and maintenance of stem cell niches. Preclinical studies support their efficacy in models of neurodegeneration, wound healing, musculoskeletal decline, and systemic inflammation. However, their function depends on stem cell origin, donor age, and environmental conditioning, variables that complicate standardization and clinical scalability. As interest expands across therapeutic and cosmetic domains, a comparative understanding of EV sources and their mechanistic actions is required. In this review, we examine

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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