Dynamic nanomechanical characterization of cells in exosome therapy

Abstract Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been confirmed to enhance cell proliferation and improve tissue repair. Exosomes release their contents into the cytoplasmic solution of the recipient cell to mediate cell expression, which is the main pathway through which exosomes exert therapeutic effects. The corresponding process of exosome internalization mainly occurs in the early stage of treatment. However, the therapeutic effect of exosomes in the early stage remains to be further studied. We report that the three-dimensional cell traction force can intuitively reflect the ability of exosomes to enhance the cytoskeleton and cell contractility of recipient cells, serving as an effective method to characterize the therapeutic effect of exosomes. Compared with traditional biochemical methods, we can visualize the early therapeutic effect of exosomes in real time without damage by quantifying the cell traction force. Through quantitative analysis of traction forces, we found that endometrial stromal cells exhibit short-term cell roundness accompanied by greater traction force during the early stage of exosome therapy. Further experiments revealed that exosomes enhance the traction force and cytoskeleton by regulating the Rac1/RhoA signaling pathway, thereby promoting cell proliferation. This work provides an effective method for rapidly quantifying the therapeutic effects of exosomes and studying the underlying mechanisms involved.