Trends in Mesenchymal Stem Cells' Applications for Skeletal Muscle Repair and Regeneration

Abstract

Skeletal muscle injuries are quite frequent in traumatic scenarios, such as war injuries or road-or work-related accidents. The skeletal muscle has good regenerative ability, but the extent or recurrence of muscle injury might impair complete structural and functional recovery. Severe tissue loss overwhelms skeletal muscle´s intrinsic regenerative capabilities and culminates in the development of noncontractile fibrous tissue scar. Conservative RICE -based and surgical treatments show limited efficacy in terms of improving these severe cases outcomes, pressing the need for new approaches on skeletal muscle's therapy. Since the first suggestions of the potential of mesenchymal stem cells for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, many applications have been explored for a variety of tissues and diseases, including the skeletal muscle, which is the focus of this literature review.

Synovia-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Application in Musculoskeletal Injuries: A Review

“…Thus, satellite cells recapitulate the MRF expression from the embryonic stage, during muscle repair processes. But, when in a quiescent state, SCs do not express detectable levels of MRF [1].…”

“…Those signals, resulting from biophysical phenomena, such as growth, injuries, or weight bearing, induce existing SC to proliferate, differentiate, and fuse to existing muscle fibers, thus, mediating postnatal muscle regeneration [22,26]. These environmental signals comprehend the release of growth factors from the impaired muscle fibers [1,23], more accurately, myogenic regulatory factors (MRF), which are MyoD, Myo5, myogenin, and MRF4 [22]. The first two growth factors have a more active role during the embryonic development of the skeletal muscle lineage.…”

“…In an adult, the intrinsic healing capacity of the skeletal muscle tissue relies on the presence of a resident, mononuclear, undifferentiated cell population, known as satellite cells (SCs) [22]. These cells are located between the sarcolemma of myofibers and the basal lamina [1,24] and have the ability to migrate considerable distances, within the muscle tissue [23]. In a mature, healthy musculoskeletal tissue, SCs are predominantly on a mitotically quiescent state and respond to environmental signaling [22].…”

“…They are usually characterized by long and incomplete healing processes that culminate into permanent musculoskeletal lesions [1].…”

“…Musculoskeletal injuries represent a major health issue worldwide, compromising society's health and well-being [1]. In osteoarticular and skeletal muscle clinical injuries, tissue self-healing mechanisms are often insufficient and associated to scar tissue formation and long-term healing processes [2][3][4][5].…”