title: Strategies to improve homing of mesenchymal stem cells for greater efficacy in stem cell therapy.
abstract: Stem/progenitor cell-based therapeutic approach in clinical practice has been an elusive dream in medical sciences, and improvement of stem cell homing is one of major challenges in cell therapy programs. Stem/progenitor cells have a homing response to injured tissues/organs, mediated by interactions of chemokine receptors expressed on the cells and chemokines secreted by the injured tissue. For improvement of directed homing of the cells, many techniques have been developed either to engineer stem/progenitor cells with higher amount of chemokine receptors (stem cell-based strategies) or to modulate the target tissues to release higher level of the corresponding chemokines (target tissue-based strategies). This review discusses both of these strategies involved in the improvement of stem cell homing focusing on mesenchymal stem cells as most frequent studied model in cellular therapies.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research Department, Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Mashhad Branch, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Hojjat
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Naderi-Meshkin
authors.forename: Ahmad Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Bahrami
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Bidkhori
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mirahmadi
authors.forename: Naghmeh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahmadiankia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D002465:Cell Movement; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000378:metabolism; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine
keywords: chemokine receptors; homing; mesenchymal stem cells; preconditioning; therapy