Table 2 A number of study areas are suggested where new results could improve the understanding of MSC basic science and/or clinical therapies.
From: Mesenchymal stem cell perspective: cell biology to clinical progress
Challenges in the field | Opportunities/solutions |
|---|---|
Defining the “MSC” and specific MSC populations for therapy | Reconcile lineage tracing/genetic results with phenotypic/functional studies of cultured MSCs |
Tissue-resident MSCs | Omics-based approaches, rigorous (and tissue relevant) functional testing to define similarities and differences |
Decrease in in vivo MSCs with age | Augment with ex vivo produced MSCs |
Intra/inter-population heterogeneity | Longitudinal culture assays, genetic tagging, bar coding |
Use of autologous vs. allogeneic MSCs | Test in parallel in vitro and in vivo, disease relevance |
MSCs for tissue replacement | Fate priming w/cytokines and culture conditions, substrates (rigid or flexible, etc.), smart scaffolds, engineered tissue |
MSCs into injured tissue | Assays for altered expression of factors and exosome contents of in vitro cultured MSCs placed in the in vivo and injured tissue setting |
Lack of engraftment | Preconditioning for in vivo metabolism and hypoxia to prevent apoptosis; scaffolds as delivery vehicles, recovery from freezing prior to infusion |
Dosing regimens | Single bolus, or repeated or escalating doses |
Delivery methods | Direct, local, or systemic—optimize for tissue and disease type |
Disease-specific treatments | “Tune” MSCs using biologics, select for defining traits via potency assays, CLIP scale |
Cell therapy release assays | Not universal but designed for the specific disease, target tissue, and patient population |
