title: Neuromuscular Regeneration: Perspective on the Application of Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Their Secretion Products.
abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells are posing as a promising character in the most recent therapeutic strategies and, since their discovery, extensive knowledge on their features and functions has been gained. In recent years, innovative sources have been disclosed in alternative to the bone marrow, conveying their associated ethical concerns and ease of harvest, such as the umbilical cord tissue and the dental pulp. These are also amenable of cryopreservation and thawing for desired purposes, in benefit of the donor itself or other patients in pressing need. These sources present promising possibilities in becoming useful cell sources for therapeutic applications in the forthcoming years. Effective and potential applications of these cellular-based strategies for the regeneration of peripheral nerve are overviewed, documenting recent advances and identified issues for this research area in the near future. Finally, besides the differentiation capacities attributed to mesenchymal stem cells, advances in the recognition of their effective mode of action in the regenerative theatre have led to a new area of interest: the mesenchymal stem cells' secretome. The paracrine modulatory pathway appears to be a major mechanism by which these are beneficial to nerve regeneration and comprehension on the specific growth factors, cytokine, and extracellular molecules secretion profiles is therefore of great interest.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, No. 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; Centro de Estudos de Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto de Ciências, Tecnologias e Agroambiente da Universidade do Porto (ICETA-UP), Praça Gomes Teixeira, Apartado 55142, 4051-401 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Rita
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Caseiro
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, No. 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; Centro de Estudos de Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto de Ciências, Tecnologias e Agroambiente da Universidade do Porto (ICETA-UP), Praça Gomes Teixeira, Apartado 55142, 4051-401 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Tiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Galya
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ivanova
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, No. 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; Centro de Estudos de Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto de Ciências, Tecnologias e Agroambiente da Universidade do Porto (ICETA-UP), Praça Gomes Teixeira, Apartado 55142, 4051-401 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Lúcia
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Luís
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, No. 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; Centro de Estudos de Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto de Ciências, Tecnologias e Agroambiente da Universidade do Porto (ICETA-UP), Praça Gomes Teixeira, Apartado 55142, 4051-401 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Colette
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Maurício