Mesenchymal stem cells hold promise for regenerative medicine

Abstract

Regenerative medicine is an emerging interdisciplinary field of research that uses several technological approaches including stem cells to repair tissues. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a type of adult stem cell, have generated a great amount of interest over the past decade in this field. Numerous studies have explored the role of MSCs in tissue repair and modulation of allogeneic immune responses. The mechanisms through which MSCs exert their therapeutic potential rely on some key properties of the cells as follows: the capacity to differentiate into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, adipocytes, cardiomyocytes, hepatocytes, endothelial, and neuronal cells; the ability to secrete multiple bioactive molecules capable of stimulating the recovery of injured cells and inhibiting inflammation; the lack of immunogenicity; and the ability to perform immunomodulatory functions. In the present review, we focus on these three aspects upon which the therapeutic effects of MSCs are mainly based. Furthermore, some pathological conditions under which the application of MSCs should be done with caution are also mentioned.

Keywords

mesenchymal stem cells / differentiation / immunomodulation / regenerative medicine

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the “863” Projects of Ministry of Science and Technology of P.R. China (No. 2011AA020100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30830052), the National Key Scientific Program of China (No. 2011CB964901), and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (PCSIRT) (No. IRT0909).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg