title: Immunobiology of mesenchymal stem cells.
abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be isolated from almost all tissues and effectively expanded in vitro. Although their true in situ properties and biological functions remain to be elucidated, these in vitro expanded cells have been shown to possess potential to differentiate into specific cell lineages. It is speculated that MSCs in situ have important roles in tissue cellular homeostasis by replacing dead or dysfunctional cells. Recent studies have demonstrated that in vitro expanded MSCs of various origins have great capacity to modulate immune responses and change the progression of different inflammatory diseases. As tissue injuries are often accompanied by inflammation, inflammatory factors may provide cues to mobilize MSCs to tissue sites with damage. Before carrying out tissue repair functions, MSCs first prepare the microenvironment by modulating inflammatory processes and releasing various growth factors in response to the inflammation status. In this review, we focus on the crosstalk between MSCs and immune responses and their potential clinical applications, especially in inflammatory diseases.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences/Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 225 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences/Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 225 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences/Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 225 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, No. 2 Tiantan Xili, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: 1] Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences/Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 225 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, China [2] Child Health Institute of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences/Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 225 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*