What are the main characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells?

Mesenchymal stem cells are a relatively important member of the stem cell family. When the fetus is still in the early stages of development, it is a pluripotent stem cell with good differentiation potential. It is relatively good in supporting hematopoiesis and promoting stem cell engraftment. It has good immune regulation and self-replication capabilities, is receiving more and more attention, and is widely used in clinical practice.

Key Features

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a type of multipotent stem cells belonging to the mesoderm. They mainly exist in connective tissue and organ stroma, and are most abundant in bone marrow tissue. Since bone marrow is their main source, they are collectively called bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells have the following characteristics:

1. It has strong proliferation ability and multidirectional differentiation potential, and has the ability to differentiate into muscle cells, hepatocytes, osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondrocytes, stromal cells and other cells under appropriate in vivo or in vitro environments.

2. It has immunomodulatory function, inhibiting the proliferation of T cells and their immune response through cell-to-cell interactions and the production of cytokines, thereby playing the role of immune reconstruction.

3. It is convenient to obtain, easy to separate, culture, amplify and purify, and it still has the characteristics of stem cells after multiple passages and amplifications, and there is no immune rejection.

4. The face is blurred, the surface antigens are not obvious, the allogeneic transplant rejection is mild, and the matching requirements are not strict.

It is precisely because of these immunological characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells that they have broad clinical application prospects in the treatment of blood diseases. Autologous transplantation can reconstruct the structure and function of tissues and organs and avoid immune rejection.

Clinical Application

The clinical application of mesenchymal stem cells has made major breakthroughs in solving various blood system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, liver cirrhosis, nervous system diseases, partial meniscus resection and repair of knee joint injuries, autoimmune diseases, etc., saving the lives of more patients. In addition, mesenchymal stem cells have long-term development prospects in nervous system repair and more.