Angiogenic effect of SHED-derived exosomes on hyperglycemia-induced endothelial cells

This study aimed to investigate the angiogenesis of hyperglycemia-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) treated with SHED exosomes. SHED exosomes were extracted by differential centrifugation and then were characterized by nanoparticle tracking analysis, transmission electron microscope, and flow cytometry, for exosome size, ultrastructure, and for presence of exosome specific surface markers: CD9, CD63 and CD81, respectively. HUVEC was subjected to treatments with normal glucose level (5.5 mM), positive control group, and hyperglycemic level (25 mM). Afterwards, hyperglycemia-induced HUVEC was cultured with SHED exosomes. Through tube formation assay, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with GATA2, an angiogenic gene, and immunostaining of CD31, a vascular marker, the angiogenic potential of HUVEC was identified. The characterization confirmed SHED exosomes: size ranged from 44-291 nm with mode of 133 nm, cup-shaped morphology and expressed CD9, CD63, and CD81. In comparison with the hyperglycemia-induced group, exosome treatment resulted in improved tube formation qualitatively, and exhibited statistically significantly (p