TABLE 5.

Recommended studies to address the potential implications of MSC therapy for type 1 diabetes

Animal study designs specific to type 1 diabetes	Goal
Source of MSC	To elucidate the differential immunomodulatory properties of bone marrow, blood, and cord blood MSC
Documentation of MSC engraftment	To study the life span of MSC after systemic administration
Homing of MSC to appropriate environment	To anatomically localize MSC in lymphoid tissues and pancreas and determine their potential differentiation into islets
Autologous vs. allogeneic MSC	To study differential anti-diabetes influence of MSC from NOD, NOR and allogeneic MSC
MSC passage, cell infusion number, frequency, duration, concurrent immunosuppression, and pre-injection manipulation of MSC	To optimize the therapy
Monitoring of a therapeutic response	To develop specific in vitro assays to measure MSC anti-autoimmune properties