Current Progress in Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Therapies

Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells (MSCs); which can be isolated from several tissues and body fluids including bone marrow, adipose tissue and placenta; are characterized by self-renewal, differentiation into various cell types, plastic adherence and specific surface markers on flow cytometry. Their immunomodulatory, immunosuppressive, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, regenerative and other properties enable them to have several clinical applications including the treatment of various injuries and tissue regeneration; several autoimmune disorders; graft versus host disease in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; skin, pulmonary and cardiovascular disorders; neurological and eye diseases as well as several infectious diseases and their complications. Recently, there has been plenty of advancements in the technical and therapeutic aspects of MSCs such as automated production and genetic engineering of MSCs in addition to the use of MSC secretome and these advancements have led to therapeutic approval of fifteen MSC products worldwide. However, the remarkable progress achieved in MSC research and studies on animal models has not translated into equivalent success on the clinical side. Also, there are several challenges that need to be overcome before having the widespread clinical utilization of MSCs and their products as novel therapeutics for several intractable medical diseases.