Advanced cell therapeutics are changing the clinical landscape: will mesenchymal stromal cells be a part of it?

Abstract

During the past 15 years there have been dramatic changes in the medical landscape, particularly in oncology and regenerative medicine. Cell therapies have played a substantial part in this progress. Cellular immunotherapies can use immune cells, such as T cells or natural killer cells that, after functional modification ex vivo, exert powerful anti-cancer effects when given to the patient. Innovative technologies, such as re-programming terminally differentiated cells into pluripotent stem cells or into other cell types and applying specific enzymes to more precisely edit the human genome, are paving the way towards more potent cell and gene therapies. Mesenchymal stromal cells are promising cellular immunotherapeutics, which also have potential for use in tissue engineering strategies and other regenerative medicine applications. However, substantial gaps in our knowledge of their biology and therapeutic efficacy present major challenges to their sustainable implementation in the clinical routine. In this article, progress in the field of cell therapeutics during the past 15 years will be briefly discussed, with a focus on mesenchymal stromal cells, highlighting the impact of this field on patient care.

Modulating endothelial adhesion and migration impacts stem cell therapies efficacy

“…Particularly MSC are being evaluated as a promising cell therapy source for various clinical applications due to their powerful immunomodulatory and regenerative potential [39] .…”

Extracellular vesicles derived from different sources of mesenchymal stem cells: therapeutic effects and translational potential

“…More recently, it was reported that MSCs transplanted into human bodies for treatments and received good effects. Thus, A new treatment called cell-therapy has emerged and developed [8]. Although MSCs transplantation seems to have a promising prospect for development, most clinical trials remained in phase I or II.…”

Introductory Chapter: Update on Mesenchymal and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

“…Unfortunately, these methods are not ideal procedures to meet the future expectations of quality-assured human MSCs for clinical therapies in humans [58]. Additionally, having substantial gaps in our knowledge of the biology and therapeutic efficacy of MSCs presents major challenge to their sustainable implementation in clinical medicine [59]. Thus, optimizing the bioprocess to generate human MSCs and their products will improve efficacy and safety of stem cell therapies [58].…”