REVIEW article
Front. Mol. Biosci.
Sec. RNA Networks and Biology
This article is part of the Research TopicNon-coding RNAs in Disease Mechanisms and TherapeuticsView all articles
Exosomal non-coding RNAs: A new avenue for treating diabetic foot ulcers
Provisionally accepted
- Jinhua Municipal Central Hospital, Affiliated Jinhua Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Jinhua, China., Jinhua, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), a severe complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), affect approximately 18.6 million individuals annually, with a lifetime incidence of up to 25% among DM patients. These ulcers, often preceding lower-extremity amputations and associated with high mortality and economic burden, necessitate innovative therapeutic strategies beyond conventional methods. Recent research highlights the potential of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs) and other ncRNAs, which regulate gene expression and cellular functions critical for wound healing. Exosomes, as natural carriers of ncRNAs, offer a promising avenue for DFU treatment by enhancing the stability and bioavailability of these molecules. This review explores the substantial potential of ncRNAs in DFU treatment, emphasizing the mechanisms of ncRNA functions, the refinement of exosome-based delivery systems, and the expansion of clinical trials to translate ncRNA-based therapies into clinical practice. The application of exosomal ncRNAs presents diverse strategies through different mechanisms, though challenges such as exosome preparation consistency, functional enhancement, and efficient drug delivery remain. Future directions include optimizing isolation techniques, engineering exosomes for improved targeting, integrating with biomaterials, and conducting more clinical trials to validate safety and effectiveness, paving the way for widespread clinical use.
Keywords: diabetic foot ulcer1, non-coding RNA2, exosome3, wound healing4, therapeuticstrategy5
Received: 09 Sep 2025; Accepted: 04 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Chen, Lu and Hu. 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: Gang Chen, m13857996976_1@163.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.