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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Apr 26, 2015; 7(3): 556-567
Published online Apr 26, 2015. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i3.556
Mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases in experimental animal models
Matthew W Klinker, Cheng-Hong Wei
Matthew W Klinker, Cheng-Hong Wei, Gene Transfer and Immunogenicity Branch, Division of Cellular and Gene Therapies, Office of Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, United States
Author contributions: Klinker MW and Wei CH contributed to this paper.
Supported by The FDA Modernizing Science grant program, the FDA MCMi program, and the Division of Cellular and Gene Therapies; Matthew W Klinker was supported through fellowship administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.
Conflict-of-interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Cheng-Hong Wei, PhD, Gene Transfer and Immunogenicity Branch, Division of Cellular and Gene Therapies, Office of Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Building 52/72, Room 3104, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, United States. chenghong.wei@fda.hhs.gov
Telephone: +1-240-4027471 Fax: +1-301-5951093
Received: August 29, 2014
Peer-review started: August 29, 2014
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: November 7, 2014
Accepted: January 9, 2015
Article in press: January 12, 2015
Published online: April 26, 2015
Processing time: 237 Days and 5.6 Hours
Abstract

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells [also known as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)] are currently being studied as a cell-based treatment for inflammatory disorders. Experimental animal models of human immune-mediated diseases have been instrumental in establishing their immunosuppressive properties. In this review, we summarize recent studies examining the effectiveness of MSCs as immunotherapy in several widely-studied animal models, including type 1 diabetes, experimental autoimmune arthritis, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, inflammatory bowel disease, graft-vs-host disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus. In addition, we discuss mechanisms identified by which MSCs mediate immune suppression in specific disease models, and potential sources of functional variability of MSCs between studies.

Keywords: Mesenchymal stromal cells, Mesenchymal stem cells, Autoimmunity, Animal models, Inflammation, Immunotherapy

Core tip: In this review, we summarize recent studies examining the effectiveness of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) as immunotherapy in several widely-studied animal models, including type 1 diabetes, experimental autoimmune arthritis, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, inflammatory bowel disease, graft-vs-host disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus. In addition, we discuss mechanisms identified by which MSCs mediate immune suppression in vivo and potential sources of functional variability of MSCs between studies.