Hypoxic Preconditioned ADSC Exosomes Enhance Vaginal Wound Healing via Accelerated Keratinocyte Proliferation and Migration Through AKT/HIF‑1α Axis Activation.

Purpose: Accelerating wound healing is a main consideration in surgery. The three stages of wound healing are inflammatory response, tissue repair and cell proliferation. Much research has focused on epidermal cell proliferation and migration because this is an essential step in wound healing.

Methods And Results: The current study discovered that exosomes from Adipose-derived stem cell (ADSC) following hypoxic preconditioning (HExo) have a greater promotional effect on vaginal wound healing. Protein kinase B (AKT)/hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) play an important role in HExo-mediated HaCaT cell migration and proliferation. The promotional effect of HExo on rat wound healing was reversed by both, HIF‑1α and AKT inhibition. Phosphorylation of AKT (p-AKT) or HIF‑1α suppression reversed the protective effect of HExo on vaginal wound healing.

Conclusion: Taken together, our study found that hypoxic preconditioning of adipose MSC exosomes enhances vaginal wound healing via accelerated keratinocyte proliferation and migration through AKT/HIF‑1α axis activation.