Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have elicited a great clinical interest, particularly in the areas of regenerative medicine and induction of tolerance in allogeneic transplantation. Previous reports demonstrated the feasibility of transplanting MSCs, which generates new prospects in cellular therapy. Recently, injection of MSCs induced remission of steroid-resistant acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). This review summarizes the knowledge and possible future clinical uses of MSCs. Key Words: mesenchymal stem cells, plasticity, immunomodulation, cancer, gene therapy. Abbreviations: BM: Bone Marrow; GVHD: graft-versus-host disease; HSC: hematopoietic stem cells; PMNC: peripheral mononuclear cells; MSCs: mesenchymal stem cells; NOD/SCID: nondiabetic severe combined immune deficiency; OI: osteogenesis imperfecta