title: Mesenchymal stem cells and immunomodulation: current status and future prospects.
abstract: The unique immunomodulatory properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) make them an invaluable cell type for the repair of tissue/ organ damage caused by chronic inflammation or autoimmune disorders. Although they hold great promise in the treatment of immune disorders such as graft versus host disease (GvHD) and allergic disorders, there remain many challenges to overcome before their widespread clinical application. An understanding of the biological properties of MSCs will clarify the mechanisms of MSC-based transplantation for immunomodulation. In this review, we summarize the preclinical and clinical studies of MSCs from different adult tissues, discuss the current hurdles to their use and propose the future development of pluripotent stem cell-derived MSCs as an approach to immunomodulation therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: D A L
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Motan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, Texas 75708, USA.
authors.forename: H-L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: H-F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.affiliation: Otorhinolaryngology Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Q-L
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lian
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D056747:Immunomodulation / Q000276:immunology*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology*