Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), also called multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells, exist in almost all tissues and are a key cell source for tissue repair and regeneration.
Under pathological conditions, such as tissue injury, these cells are mobilized towards the site of damage.
Tissue damage is usually accompanied by proinflammatory factors, produced by both innate and adaptive immune responses, to which MSCs are known to respond. Indeed, recent studies have shown that there are bidirectional interactions between MSCs and inflammatory cells, which determine the outcome of MSC-mediated tissue repair processes.
Although many details of these interactions remain to be elucidated, we provide here a synthesis of the current status of this newly emerging and rapidly advancing field.
2012-03-05
Eng.
Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences/Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. yufangshi [at] sibs.ac.cn
Trends Immunol. 2012 Mar;33(3):136-43
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