Enhancing the efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell therapy

Figure 1 Ex vivo expansion of mesenchymal stem cells reduces expression of growth factor/cytokine genes. Porcine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were expanded as described[42]. Threshold cycle (C_T) for the illustrated genes was determined by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Early and late passage MSCs received less than 5 and more than 10 trypsin passages, respectively. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 vs arly passage MSCs.

Figure 2 Intramuscular administration of mesenchymal stem cells mediates a paracrine mechanism of distal organ repair. The paracrine cascade initiated by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is illustrated by blue arrows. TLR3 priming by poly (I:C) generates a super MSC phenotype through amplification of paracrine factors, which enhances MSC potency for cardiac repair (indicated by triple green plus signs). Supporting data have been published[6,30,31,45,126].