Table 2.
Biological actions of MSC-based therapeutic applications [156].
| MSC Effects | Mechanisms | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Transdifferentiation | Ability to differentiate into the three germ leyers cells. | Ectoderm: epithelial cell, neuron Mesoderm: condrocyte, adipocyte, osteocyte, connective stromal cell Endoderm: muscle cell, gut epithelial cell, lung cell |
| Cell fusion | Ability to fuse with another cell forming a heterokaryon (i.e. multinuclear cell). | |
| Mitochondrial transfer | Ability to transfer mitochondria in damaged cells to increase activity of the respiratory chain complex and ATP levels. | MSC makes contact with the targeted cell and builds a gap junctional channel to transfer mitochondria. |
| Extracellular vesicles | Ability to release microvesicles and/or exososomes containing bioactive molecules, RNA, microRNA, lipids and proteins for intercellular communication. | The interaction of extracellular vesicles with the targeted cell leads to fusion, release and transfer of the vesicles’ components. |
| Paracrine effect | Ability to secrete bioactive cytokines and chemokines that act on immunomodulation, angiogenesis/arteriogenesis, antiapoptosis, antioxidation and cell migration/stimulation. | Examples: IL-6; HGF; IDO; HO-1; TGF; NO; HLA-G5; PGE2; VEGF; FGF; IGF; MCP1; SDF1; PIGF; IL-6; Bcl-2; Akt; STC1; GM-CSF; TNF; GDNF; SCF; LIF; CCL; CXCL. |
MSC, mesenchymal stem cells; IL-6, interleukin-6; HGF, hepatocyte growth factor; IDO, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase; HO-1, heme oxygenase 1; TGF, transforming growth factor; NO, nitric oxide; HLA-G5, human leukocyte antigen class I molecule G5; PGE2, prostaglandin E2; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; FGF, fibroblast growth factor; IGF, insulin-like growth factor; MCP1, monocyte chemotactic protein 1; SDF1, stromal cell-derived factor 1; PIGF, placental growth factor; IL-6, interleukin 6; Bcl-2, B-cell lymphoma 2; Akt, v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog 1; STC1, stanniocalcin 1; GM-CSF, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; GDNF, glial-derived neurotrophic factor; SCF, stem cell factor; LIF, leukemia inhibitory factor; CCL, chemokine C-C motif ligand; CXCL, chemokine C-X-C motif ligand.