REVIEW article
Front. Genet.
Sec. RNA
This article is part of the Research TopicFunctions of RNA and RNA-Binding Proteins in DiseaseView all 3 articles
Exercise Stress and Tissue Remodeling: Advances in Exosome-Mediated RNA-RBP Networks in Musculoskeletal Injury Repair and Functional Recovery
Provisionally accepted
- Harbin Sport University, Harbin, China
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Exercise is a double-edged sword. It can either cause adaptive remodeling of musculoskeletal tissues or lead to acute or chronic injury. Exosomes that are boosted with circular RNAs (circRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) have been a focus of recent years as an important contributor to the process of repair after exposure to stress during exercise. This narrative review is a fairly thorough summarization of the impacts of different kinds of exercise modalities and intensities on musculoskeletal patterns of RNA expression and exosome secretion. It also explains the role of exosomes that initiate RNA-RBP networks that coordinate regenerative and inflammatory reactions in recipient cells. The article notes the promise of these networks as diagnosis biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and also suggests new clinical uses, like engineered exosome-based interventions. This review will build a holistic but theoretically sound framework to inform future direct-to-patient research in exercise medicine by taking into account multi-omics data and its functional validation. In the end, the purpose of the work would be to educate better diagnostic and rehabilitative approaches in musculoskeletal injuries, which would lead to the most suitable functional recovery outcome.
Keywords: biomarkers, circRNA, engineeredexosomes, exercise stress, Exosomes, functional recovery, Musculoskeletal injury, RNA-binding proteins (RBPs)
Received: 24 Dec 2025; Accepted: 12 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Liu, Chen, Yang, Jia, Li, Zhong, Jiang, Mao and Mi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhujun Mao
Zheng Mi
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