title: Bone repair with skeletal stem cells: rationale, progress to date and clinical application.
abstract: Bone marrow (BM) contains stem cells for both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic lineages. Hematopoietic stem cells enable hematopoiesis to occur in a controlled manner in order to accurately compensate for the loss of short- as well as long-lived mature blood cells. The physiological role of nonhematopoietic BM stem cells, often referred to as multipotential stromal cells or skeletal stem cells (SSCs), is less understood. According to an authoritative current opinion, the main function of SSCs is to give rise to cartilage, bone, marrow fat and hematopoiesis-supportive stroma, in a specific sequence during embryonic and postnatal development. This review outlines recent advances in the understanding of origins and homeostatic functions of SSCs in vivo and highlights current and future SSC-based treatments for skeletal and joint disorders.
authors.affiliation: Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, St James's University Hospital, Room 5.24 Clinical Sciences Building, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS9 7TF, UK.
authors.forename: Elena A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Leeds, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, UK NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Unit, Chapel Allerton Hospital, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Peter V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Giannoudis
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Research, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University Campus of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kouroupis
keywords: bone repair; hematopoietic stem cells; multipotential stromal cells; osteoarthritis; skeletal stem cells; systemic bone diseases