Mesenchymal Stem Cells as Gene Delivery Vehicles

A Comparative Study of Non-Viral Gene Delivery Techniques to Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell

“…Stem cell-based therapy offers great potential for the treatment of genetic disorders. Because stem cells have been reported to restore function of damaged tissue in various preclinical disease models, combining stem cell therapy with gene therapy might provide additive benefits [ 1 ]. For example, genetically modified MSCs containing the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene were shown to effectively promote axonal regeneration in the transected spinal cord in adult rats [ 12 ].…”

“…In recent years, the potential of multipotential adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for cell-based therapy has received tremendous attention, as transplantation of these cells has proven to be effective at treating a variety of genetic or acquired diseases. This is because MSCs can engraft in various tissue types to differentiate into tissue-specific cells and release trophic factors to induce the tissue’s own endogenous repair [ 1 ]. MSCs avoid and/or suppress the immunological responses that cause rejection of most allogeneic cells and tissues, a trait that helps explain how these cells modify the triggering and effector functions of innate and adaptive immunity [ 2 ].…”

SPIONs’ Enhancer Effect on Cell Transfection: An Unexpected Advantage for an Improved Gene Delivery System

“…Genetically modified cells can next be employed for several further purposes including immunotherapy, stable transgene expression in eukaryotic cells, theranostics, ex vivo models for clinical applications, and cell therapy strategies. − Most of these applications, specially the ones related to cell therapy, require a selection of successfully modified cells to increase the probabilities of achieving a final beneficial effect, and, therefore, the enrichment and selection of genetically modified cells become a key matter . At this point, and given the current growing interest in the combination of both gene and cell therapy strategies, a system allowing simultaneously the genetic modification of cells and their later selection for in vivo implantation would be of great interest.…”

“…The cells used for cell therapy applications are usually stem cells obtained from the same patient (autologous) or from a compatible donor (allogeneic) to repair the damaged tissue. In addition, the possibility to genetically modify these therapeutic cells has opened a door toward the development of new therapies applied not only to tissue regeneration, but also to many genetic diseases, including blood cell diseases such as hemophilia and cancer . In these cases, genetically modified cells are often administered to patients with therapeutic purposes.…”

“…In addition, the possibility to genetically modify these therapeutic cells has opened a door toward the development of new therapies applied not only to tissue regeneration, but also to many genetic diseases, including blood cell diseases such as hemophilia and cancer. 29 In these cases, genetically modified cells are often administered to patients with therapeutic purposes. These strategies imply as main hindrance the susceptibility of therapeutic (stem) cells to be used by the tumors to promote their own growth due to their capacity to differentiate into other cell types.…”