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Review
. 2016 Nov 4;23(1):76.
doi: 10.1186/s12929-016-0289-5.

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for treatment towards immune- and inflammation-mediated diseases: review of current clinical trials

Li-Tzu Wang  1   2 , Chiao-Hsuan Ting  1 , Men-Luh Yen  3 , Ko-Jiunn Liu  4 , Huey-Kang Sytwu  2   5 , Kenneth K Wu  1   6 , B Linju Yen  7
Affiliations
Review

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for treatment towards immune- and inflammation-mediated diseases: review of current clinical trials

Li-Tzu Wang et al. J Biomed Sci. .

Abstract

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multilineage somatic progenitor/stem cells that have been shown to possess immunomodulatory properties in recent years. Initially met with much skepticism, MSC immunomodulation has now been well reproduced across tissue sources and species to be clinically relevant. This has opened up the use of these versatile cells for application as 3rd party/allogeneic use in cell replacement/tissue regeneration, as well as for immune- and inflammation-mediated disease entities. Most surprisingly, use of MSCs for in immune-/inflammation-mediated diseases appears to yield more efficacy than for regenerative medicine, since engraftment of the exogenous cell does not appear necessary. In this review, we focus on this non-traditional clinical use of a tissue-specific stem cell, and highlight important findings and trends in this exciting area of stem cell therapy.

Keywords: Autoimmune disease; Clinical trials; Human; Immunomodulation; Inflammation; Mesenchymal stem cells; Organ transplantation and rejection; Stem cell therapy.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Clinical application of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for immune- and inflammation-mediated diseases. Graph is a summary of the number of clinical trials using MSC therapy in immune-/inflammation-mediated diseases, as registered on the website https://clinicaltrials.gov/ (accessed April 2016). MS, multiple sclerosis; T1DM, type 1 diabetes mellitus; GVHD, graft versus host disease; OA, osteoarthritis; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
MSC-derived paracrine factors mediate immunomodulatory functions, particularly towards T lymphocytes, in preclinical animal studies of various immune-and inflammation-mediated diseases
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mechanisms involved in MSC therapy for inflammatory pulmonary diseases based on preclinical animal studies. Immunomodulatory effects include enhancing bacterial clearance by direct killing and enhancement of macrophage phagocytosis; decreasing inflammatory response by modulation of macrophages towards an M2 phenotype and inhibition of neutrophil recruitment; as well as reducing damage to alveolar epithelium
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