Mesenchymal stem cell homing: the devil is in the details.
The study of MSC trafficking is clinically relevant for minimally invasive cell therapy to promote regeneration of damaged tissue, to treat inflammation, and to promote angiogenesis. However, these studies are complicated by the diverse methods used to culture, characterize, and deliver MSCs and by the variety of methods used to assess homing events. This review provides a critical analysis of the methods used to track homing of exogenously infused MSCs and discusses strategies for enhancing their trafficking to particular tissues.
Karp
Jeffrey M
JM
Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E25-519, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. jkarp@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
Leng Teo
Grace Sock
GS
D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000502:physiology; D003584:Cytological Techniques; D006801:Humans; D016023:Integrins / Q000502:physiology; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype
D016023:Integrins