REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cytokines and Soluble Mediators in Immunity
Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles: emerging cell-free therapeutics for kidney diseases
Provisionally accepted
- Southeast University, Nanjing, China
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The increasing global impact of kidney diseases highlights a pressing and unmet need for new treatment strategies. In this context, mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) have emerged as a promising cell-free therapeutic approach, attracting growing interest due to their dual regenerative functions. MSC-EVs not only possess intrinsic therapeutic effects mediated by their cargo of mRNAs, proteins, and miRNAs that regulate inflammation, promote cell repair, reduce fibrosis, but also serve as highly biocompatible vehicles for drug delivery. This versatility places them at the forefront of a potential shift in how kidney diseases may be treated. In this review, we systematically summarize current knowledge on the mechanisms and therapeutic potential of MSC-EVs in various kidney diseases. Although challenges related to standardization and clinical translation persist, ongoing progress supports the view that MSC-EVs are poised to become key next-generation therapies for kidney diseases.
Keywords: Cell-free, extracellular vesicles, Kidney Diseases, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Therapeutics
Received: 03 Nov 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Chen, Tang, Zhang, Lv and Liu. 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: Bi-Cheng Liu
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