title: Mesenchymal stem cells: mechanisms and role in bone regeneration.
abstract: Stimulating bone growth and regeneration, especially in patients with delayed union or non-union of bone, is a challenge for orthopaedic surgeons. Treatments employed for bone regeneration are based on the use of cells, biomaterials and factors. Among these therapies, cell treatment with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has a number of advantages as MSCs: (1) are multipotent cells that can migrate to sites of injury; (2) are capable of suppressing the local immune response; and (3) are available in large quantities from the patients themselves. MSC therapies have been used for stimulating bone regeneration in animal models and in patients. Methods of application range from direct MSC injection, seeding MSCs on synthetic scaffolds, the use of gene-modified MSCs, and hetero-MSCs application. However, only a small number of these cell-based strategies are in clinical use, and none of these treatments has become the gold standard treatment for delayed or non-union of bone.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital affiliated to Department of Orthopaedic, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yunhao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital affiliated to Department of Orthopaedic, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Junjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital affiliated to Department of Orthopaedic, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Changqing
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D023822:Tissue Engineering
keywords: ORTHOPAEDIC & TRAUMA SURGERY