Zeitschrift für Knochenforschung
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Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Current Clinical Applications and Therapeutic Potential in Liver Diseases

Patcharee Prasajak and Wilairat Leeanansaksiri

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are one of valuable candidates for cell-based therapy which trend to be safe, feasible and promising in the treatment of several diseases. Since, MSCs possess unique biological characteristics which make them variable applying in clinic. These include self-renewal capacity, multi-lineages differentiation potential, homing and migration ability, immunomodulatory properties and paracrine secretion activity. These beneficial advantages lead to increase possibility of using MSCs in several implications such as regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, cells-based therapy and other clinical applications. At present, many clinical trials related to MSCs have been conducted in various diseases including bone defect, myocardial infarction, spinal injury, critical limb ischemia, diabetes and multiple sclerosis based on registered data at http://clinicaltrials.gov. The most of these clinical trials are being under investigation and are in phase I and II. There are several diseases of the liver that cause liver dysfunction due to hepatocytes injury and loss including viral hepatitis, fatty liver disease, drug or toxin induced liver injury, hepatocellular carcinoma, autoimmuneassociated hepatic disorders and cirrhosis. In this review, we focus on mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) toward liver disease treatment by MSCs therapy. In this regard, we summarized characteristics of mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) including sources, general characteristics, differentiation potential, niches, and biological effects of the cells. We also emphasized on current methods for hepatocyte differentiation and current board clinical applications. The current studies of MSCs both in preclinical and clinical trials related to liver diseases are also discussed in context of possible application in therapeutic purposes in this review. Understanding the basic knowledge of MSCs and their therapeutic capability in preclinical and clinical studies will accelerate therapeutic value of MSCs transplantations for disease treatments, drug screening, stem cell banking and regenerative medicine.