Table 1.
For a List of Commonly Used SC Types for IBD Treatment
| Advantages | Disadvantages | |
|---|---|---|
| HSCs | ||
| HSCs have a high differentiation potential and can reconstruct the hematopoietic and immune systems. HSCT technology is mature and mainly used for the treatment of hematologic tumors, and has been found to be effective in IBD. |
HSCs are highly immunogenic. HSCT requires search for a match, marrow clearance therapy and immunosuppression. There are invasive operations, many adverse effects and high relapse rate. Not an option for the treatment of IBD alone. |
|
| MSCs | ||
| MSCs can be multidirectionally differentiated and have strong immunomodulatory and tissue repair capabilities. MSCs have low immunogenicity, MSCT does not require searching for a match and marrow clearance therapy, and there is no significant difference in efficacy and safety between allogeneic or autologous transplantation. The source is widely available, and can be derived from bone marrow, cord blood, peripheral blood or adipose tissue. Infusion is flexible, with the option of intravenous, intraperitoneal, subcutaneous, or local injection routes. |
MSCs are heterogeneous and can change with the microenvironment, lose their immunomodulatory capacity, or even become pro-inflammatory cells. MSCs remain weakly immunogenic, potentially tumorigenic or pro-tumorigenic risk. MSCs are injected intravenously and are mostly sequestered in organs such as liver and lung, with very little homing to the site of IBD lesions (< 1%). |
|
| BM-MSCs | Classical source, most studied, easy to extract and isolate. High differentiation potential and immunomodulatory ability. |
Bone marrow extraction is a highly invasive operation with a short in vitro survival time and proliferation and differentiation potential related to the age of the donor. |
| hUC-MSC UCBSCs | The MSCs of the umbilical cord are abundant, less immunogenic, and have greater differentiation potential and regulatory immunity. It can be expanded in vitro and frozen for a long time. | It can only be obtained during delivery, and there is a general lack of awareness of cord and cord blood preservation among the population. |
| PBSCs | Peripheral blood is easily accessible. | Low levels and lack of specific markers of MSCs in peripheral blood make them difficult to isolate and obtain. |
| ASCs | Adequate source, easy to obtain, easy to isolate and easy to cultivate. Strong immunomodulatory and tissue repair ability, stable biological properties. |
The ability to proliferate and differentiate is relatively weak. |
| ISCs | ||
| ISCs can differentiate into various types of IECs and resident immune cells, capable of repairing intestinal epithelium and regulating intestinal immune cells. ISCs are relatively new in research and have great potential to be cultivated into intestinal organoids, which are the best source of SCs for IBD treatment. | The extraction and culture of ISCs are relatively difficult. Relying on endoscopic manipulation and in vitro 3D cell culture techniques, the process is difficult and relatively complicated. | |
| iPSCs | ||
| It is easily accessible, malleable, and can be induced to form iISCs, iMSCs, and iESCs with similar functions as ISCs, MSCs, and ESCs. Preclinical studies clarify the therapeutic effects of iPSCs in IBD, and no clinical studies in IBD are available. | The preparation process is complex and requires precise control, with a high failure rate and uncertain safety. Induced SCs are not exactly the same as in vivo SCs in terms of gene expression, phenotypic characteristics, proliferation, and differentiation. |
|
| pESCs | ||
| pESCs are totipotent SCs that have been successfully induced into ISCs. pESCs are still in preclinical studies and there are no clinical studies on IBD yet. | The preparation process is complex and requires precise control, with high failure rates and uncertain safety. Faced with the problem of differences between induced SCs and in vivo SCs. |
|
Abbreviations: ASCs, adipose mesenchymal stem cells; BM-MSCs, Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; HSCs, hematopoietic stem cells; HSCT, hematopoietic stem cells transplantation; IBD, Inflammatory bowel disease; iESCs, Induced embryonic SCs; iISCs, Induced intestinal stem cells; iMSCs, MSCs derived from iPSCs; iPSCs, induced pluripotent stem cells; ISCs, intestinal stem cells; MSCs, mesenchymal stem cells; PBSCs, Peripheral blood stem cells; pESCs, Parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells; IECs, intestinal epithelial cells; UCBSCs, Umbilical Cord Blood stem cells; hUC-MSC, Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells.