Mesenchymal stem cell homing to injured tissues

Abstract

A growing body of preclinical evidence suggests that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are effective for the structural and functional recovery of many damaged organs. Accordingly, a large number of clinical trials have been underway to determine the benefit of MSC-based therapies. While systemic infusion is a minimal invasive administration route of MSCs and has been used extensive in clinical studies, culture expanded MSCs appear to have significantly impaired homing capacity, resulting in low levels of engraftment to injured tissues. Meanwhile, the therapeutic effect of MSCs in tissue repair and regeneration is likely to correlate to the number of MSCs that have engrafted into the tissue. Considerable progresses have been made in the past in understanding the molecular mechanisms of the trafficking, migration and engraftment of MSCs. In consideration of the profound therapeutic potential in tissue repair/regeneration that MSCs have displayed after direct intra-organ delivery, improving the homing ability of cultured expanded MSCs will certainly enhance their therapeutic efficacy after systemic infusion.