Mini Review: Application of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Gene and Stem Cells Therapy Era

Abstract

Purpose of Review Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have abilities of self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation. MSCs can evade immune rejection following allogeneic transplantation setting due to their downregulation of HLA Class II antigen. Therefore, we review the current understanding of using MSCs or MSC-conditioned media as treatment for various diseases. Recent Findings (1) MSCs regulate the balance of Th17/Treg cells in autoimmune disease models, which is associated with complex interactions among different pro- or anti-inflammation cytokines. (2) With the nature of MSCs migrating to multiple tissues under various homing signals, we also found MSCs are widely used as cell vehicles for gene or chemokine delivery. Summary MSCs or MSC-conditioned media therapies have been explored with advanced techniques. However, it still requires further investigations on (1) how MSCs respond to various microenvironments and (2) how to isolate, purify and expand enough MSCs ex vivo. Keywords Mesenchymal stem cells Cell therapy Autoimmune Paracrine Genetic modification Delivery tool