Tendinopathies are chronic diseases of an unknown etiology and associated with inflammation. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as a viable therapeutic option to combat the pathological progression of tendinopathies, not only because of their potential for multidirectional differentiation and self-renewal, but also their excellent immunomodulatory properties. The immunomodulatory effects of MSCs are increasingly being recognized as playing a crucial role in the treatment of tendinopathies, with MSCs being pivotal in regulating the inflammatory microenvironment by modulating the immune response, ultimately contributing to improved tissue repair. This review will discuss the current knowledge regarding the application of MSCs in tendinopathy treatments through the modulation of the immune response.
Humans ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/physiology* ; Inflammation ; Cell Differentiation

As the progenitor of most cell components in the hematopoietic microenvironment, mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) exhibit self-renewal and multilineage differentiation capacity. Through direct interaction with hematopoietic cells, secreting extracellular matrix and factors, MSC maintain the integrity of hematopoietic microenvironment and regulate hematopoiesis accurately. This review summarized the function of MSC in hematopoietic regulation, such as secretion of cytokines supporting hematopoiesis, MSC expression and adhesion molecules interacting with hematopoietic cells, and supportive effects of transplantation combining MSC with HSC on hematopoietic reconstruction, and its clinical perspectives.
Cell Communication ; Cytokines ; biosynthesis ; Hematopoiesis ; physiology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; physiology ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; physiology

OBJECTIVEPoor stem cell survival is one of the obstacles for cell regeneration therapy post myocardial infarction (MI) and responsible for unsatisfactory therapeutic effectiveness. Various approaches to improve the status of these cells and increase cell survival have become research foci. The following article is a mini-review on the utilization of cell preconditioning for stem cell survival.

DATA SOURCESThe data used in this review were mainly from the articles in Medline and PubMed published from 1990 to 2010. The search terms included "preconditioning, stem cell and myocardial infarction".

STUDY SELECTIONOriginal articles and critical reviews selected were relevant to the review's theme.

RESULTSThe harsh ischemic and inflammatory microenvironment in the infarcted myocardium offers a significant challenge to the transplanted donor stem cells. Survival of stem cells following transplantation is affected by many factors, such as limited blood supply, nutritional deficiency, hypoxia, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Preconditioning methods have potent cytoprotective effects, which enables cells to maintain a "standby state" through programmed initiation of cell survival pathways.

CONCLUSIONSThe findings suggest that cell preconditioning can be used as an effective anti-apoptotic strategy and enable cells to withstand and survive the harsh environment after transplantation.

At present, it is generally believed that the paracrine effect of stem cells in the repair of myocardial injury is one of the important ways for stem cell therapy. Exosomes are phospholipid bilayer-enclosed nanovesicles that secreted by cells under physiological and pathological conditions. Cargo loaded into exosomes including protein, lipids and nucleic acids can be delivered to recipient cells. Therefore, exosomes are recognized as important mediators for intercellular communication. It has been suggested that exosomes from stem cells (eg. embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, cardiac progenitor cells, mesenchymal stem cells and cardiosphere-derived cells) have protective effects against heart injury. In this review, we summarized recent research progresses on stem cell-derived exosomes in myocardial injury, including the therapeutic effects and mechanism.
Cell Communication ; Exosomes ; physiology ; Heart Injuries ; Humans ; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells ; cytology ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells ; cytology

Wound healing is a dynamic and complicated process, which generally takes three overlapping phases: inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. If wounds complicated by severe trauma, diabetes, vascular dysfunction disease, or a massive burn injury failed to pass through the three normal phases of healing, they might end up as chronic and refractory wounds. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) play different important roles in the regulation of all the phases of wound healing. MSCs can be recruited into wound and differentiated into wound repair cells, as well as promote wound healing by exerting functions like anti-inflammation, anti-apoptosis, and neovascularization. This review focuses on the role and mechanism of MSCs in each phase of the wound healing process.
Burns ; therapy ; Cell Differentiation ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; physiology ; Skin ; Wound Healing

Wound healing involves complex pathophysiological mechanism, among which angiogenesis is considered as one of the key steps in wound healing, and promoting wound angiogenesis can accelerate wound healing. In recent years, mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles have been proven to produce equivalent effects of wound healing promotion comparable to stem cell therapy, with the advantages of low antigenicity and high biocompatibility. The specific mechanism by which extracellular vesicles facilitate wound healing is still not fully understood and is thought to involve all stages of wound healing. This article focuses on the possible mechanism of extracellular vesicles of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in promoting wound angiogenesis, so as to provide ideas for further study on the mechanism of extracellular vesicles to promote wound healing.
Wound Healing/physiology* ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells ; Extracellular Vesicles ; Stem Cell Transplantation

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are defined as pluripotent cells which have high self-renewal capacity and multipotentiality for differentiation. Because of their characteristics of supporting hematopoietisis, multipotentiality for differentiation and their possible use for both cell and gene engineerings, MSCs will have important value in clinic use.
Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; genetics ; physiology ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; physiology ; Models, Biological

Adult stem cells are drawing more and more attention due to the potential application in degenerative medicine without posing any moral problem. There is growing evidence showing that the human amnion contains various types of adult stem cell. Since amniotic tissue is readily available, it has the potential to be an important source of regenerative medicine material. In this study we tried to find multipotent adult stem cells in human amnion. We isolated stem cells from amniotic mesenchymal cells by limiting dilution assay. Similar to bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells, these cells displayed a fibroblast like appearance. They were positive for CD105, CD29, CD44, negative for haematopoietic (GlyA, CD31, CD34, CD45) and epithelial cell (pan-CK) markers. These stem cells had the potential to differentiate not only into osteogenic, adipogenic and endothelial lineages, but also hepatocyte-like cells and neural cells at the single-cell level depending on the culture conditions. They had the capacity for self-renewal and multilineage differentiation even after being expanded for more than 30 population doublings in vitro. So they may be an ideal stem cell source for inherited or degenerative diseases treatment.
Adult Stem Cells ; cytology ; Amnion ; cytology ; Cell Differentiation ; physiology ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Multipotent Stem Cells ; cytology

Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process of normal cell physiological development, in which epithelial cells transform into mesenchyme cells through a specific program. EMT plays a key role in inflammatory reaction, cell development, tumor invasion, and metastasis and has an interrelation with prostate cancer stem cells. Recent researches show the involvement of EMT in the development and metastasis of prostate cancer. This article reviews the specific roles and action mechanisms of EMT in the progression of prostate cancer.
Biomedical Research ; Cell Differentiation ; Disease Progression ; Epithelial Cells ; physiology ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; physiology ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; pathology

OBJECTIVE: To compare the behavioral improvement to find the best transplantation approach for treating brain injury through transplanting amniotic-derived mesenchymal stem cells into brain injured rats in different ways. METHODS: Eighty brain injured Wista rats were randomly divided into a control group with brain injury alone (n=20) and a treatment group(n=60) which were further evenly divided into Group A (transplanted through the vena caudalis), Group B (transplanted through the ventriculus cerebri lateralis), and Group C (transplanted through the injured brain area). Each group was transplanted with amniotic-derived esenchymal stem cells, and their therapeutic efficacy would be evaluated through the neurological severity score (NSS). RESULTS: Compared with other groups, the behaviors of Group C had markedly improved. There was statistically significant difference in the 2 groups (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the behaviors of Group A and Group B had marked improvement. There was statistically significant difference in the 3 groups (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between Group A and the control group (P>0.05). CONCLUSION Transplanting the amniotic-derived mesenchymal stem cells into the injured brain area may be effective for brain injury in rats.
Amnion ; cytology ; Animals ; Brain Injuries ; therapy ; Female ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells ; cytology ; physiology ; Nerve Regeneration ; physiology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar