Exosomes secreted by FNDC5-BMMSCs protect myocardial infarction by anti-inflammation and macrophage polarization via NF-κB signaling pathway and Nrf2/HO-1 axis

BACKGROUND: Exosomes are considered a substitute for stem cell-based therapy for myocardial infarction (MI). FNDC5, a transmembrane protein located in the cytoplasm, plays a crucial role in inflammation diseases and MI repair. Furthermore, our previous study found that FNDC5 pre-conditioning bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) could secrete more exosomes, but little was known on MI repair. METHODS: Exosomes isolated from BMMSCs with or without FNDC5-OV were injected into infarcted hearts. Then, cardiomyocytes apoptosis and inflammation responses were detected. Furthermore, exosomes were administrated to RAW264.7 macrophage with LPS treatment to investigate its effect on inflammation and macrophage polarization. RESULTS: Compared with MSCs-Exo, FNDC5-MSCs-Exo had superior therapeutic effects on anti-inflammation and anti-apoptosis, as well as polarizing M2 macrophage in vivo. Meanwhile, the in vitro results also showed that FNDC5-MSCs-Exo decreased pro-inflammatory secretion and increased anti-inflammatory secretion under LPS stimulation, which partly depressed NF‐κB signaling pathway and upregulated Nrf2/HO-1 Axis. CONCLUSIONS: FNDC5-BMMSCs-derived exosomes play anti-inflammation effects and promote M2 macrophage polarization via NF-κB signaling pathway and Nrf2/HO-1 Axis, which may develop a promising cell-free therapy for MI. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13287-021-02591-4.