title: Circulating mesenchymal stem cells.
abstract: Mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs) are multipotent cells capable of differentiating into various mesenchymal tissues, such as bone, cartilage, fat, tendon and muscle. They are present within both mesenchymal tissues and the bone marrow (BM). If marrow-derived MPCs are to have a role in repair and fibrosis of mesenchymal tissues, transit of these cells through the peripheral blood is to be expected. Although there is evidence for the existence of MPCs within the peripheral blood, results are debated and are not always reproducible. Variations in the methods of cell purification, culture and characterisation may explain the inconsistent results obtained in different studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histopathology, Imperial College of Science, Medicine and Technology, Hammersmith Campus, DuCane Road, London W12 0NN, UK. c.roufosse@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Roufosse
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Direkze
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D001773:Blood Cells / Q000502:physiology; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000502:physiology; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000502:physiology; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology