Vascular Pericyte-Derived Exosomes Inhibit Bone Resorption via Traf3

Mingxiang Cai,1,* Huizhen Peng,1,* Minyi Liu,1,* Maohua Huang,2,3 Wen Zheng,1 Guilan Zhang,1 Wenjia Lai,1 Chufang Liao,1 Lizhao Cai,1 Dongmei Zhang,2,3 Xiangning Liu1 1The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, School of Stomatology, Clinical Research Platform for Interdiscipline of Stomatology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, People’s Republic of China; 2College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, People’s Republic of China; 3Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of Traditional Chinese Medicine and New Drugs Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xiangning Liu, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, School of Stomatology, Clinical Research Platform for Interdiscipline of Stomatology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, People’s Republic of China, Email liuxiangning@jnu.edu.cn Dongmei Zhang, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, People’s Republic of China, Email dmzhang701@jnu.edu.cnPurpose: Blood vessels distribute cells, oxygen, and nutrients throughout the body to support tissue growth and balance. Pericytes and endothelial cells form the inner wall of blood vessels, crucial for organ development and tissue homeostasis by producing paracrine signaling molecules. In the skeletal system, pericyte-derived vascular factors along with angiogenic factors released by bone cells regulate angiogenesis and bone formation. Although the involvement of angiogenic factors and skeletal blood vessels in bone homeostasis is relatively clear, the role of pericytes and the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Here, our objective was to elucidate the significance of pericytes in regulating osteoclast differentiation.Methods: We used tissue staining to detect the coverage of pericytes and osteoclasts in femoral tissues of osteoporotic mice and mice of differen