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REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Inflammation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1549833
This article is part of the Research Topic Emerging Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Musculoskeletal Diseases and Potential Therapeutic Interventions View all articles
The Communication Role of Extracellular Vesicles in the Osteoarthritis Microenvironment
Provisionally accepted
Pu Chen 1
Ling-Feng Zeng 1
Ting Wang 2
Jianbo He 1 Shuai Xiong 3 Gang Chen 4
QingFu Wang 5 Haiyun Chen 6
Jiewei Xie 1*- 1 Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
- 2 Ji’an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ji'an, Jiangxi Province, China
- 3 Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
- 4 Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
- 5 Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Third Affiliated Hospital, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 6 Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative joint disease worldwide, characterized by synovial inflammation, cartilage loss, and reactive hyperplasia of subchondral bone, affecting the quality of life of hundreds of millions of people.However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the occurrence and progression of OA remain unclear, and there is no therapy can substantially interrupt or reverse the destructive process of OA. More insight into the pathogenesis of OA may result in innovative therapeutics. The OA microenvironment plays a pivotal role in the development and progression of OA, which encompasses chondrocytes, adipocytes, synovial fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and immune cells. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as a novel form of intercellular communication, mediating the transfer of a range of bioactive molecules to create a specific microenvironment. Recent studies have reported that the cargos of EVs play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of OA, including noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), proteins, and lipids. This review systematically analyzes and summarizes the biological characteristics and functionalities of EVs derived from diverse cellular sources, especially how EVs mediate communication between different cells in the OA microenvironment, with a view to providing new insights into the pathogenesis of OA.
Keywords: Osteoarthritis, extracellular vesicles, microenvironment, Synovial inflammation, cartilage degeneration
Received: 22 Dec 2024; Accepted: 26 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Zeng, Wang, He, Xiong, Chen, Wang, Chen and Xie. 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:
Jiewei Xie, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
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