title: Immunological basis of stem cell therapy in liver diseases.
abstract: Unbalanced immune cell populations or immune cell infiltration of the liver can disrupt the immune-privileged state of the liver, resulting in liver injury or fibrosis. Therefore, the treatment for liver diseases involves not only hepatic regeneration but also immunological regulation. Recent studies demonstrated that stem cells, especially mesenchymal stem cells, have the capacity for not only hepatic differentiation but also immunomodulation. In this respect, stem cell therapy could be a realistic aim for liver diseases by modulating the liver regenerative processes and down-regulating immune-mediated liver damage. In this review, we discuss in detail the importance of immune cells in liver injury and repair; the mechanism by which stem cells demonstrate an immune-tolerant phenotype that can be used for allogeneic transplantation; the effect of stem cell transplantation on immune-mediated diseases, especially liver diseases; and the mechanism by which stem cells improve the hepatic microenvironment.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors: Lina
authors: L
authors: Cui
authors: Yongquan
authors: Y
authors: Shi
authors: Ying
authors: Y
authors: Han
authors: Daiming
authors: D
authors: Fan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D060833:Cellular Microenvironment; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D056747:Immunomodulation; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D008115:Liver Regeneration; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology*
keywords: hepatic microenvironment; immunology; liver disease; stem cell therapy; stem cells