Mesenchymal stem cellWIKIMEDIA, ROBERT M. HUNTPretreating human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with a small molecule called Ro-31-8425, researchers can increase the expression of the surface receptor CD11a to improve the cells’ ability to target to inflamed tissue, according to a study published today (February 26) in Cell Reports. Such improved homing of MSCs could improve the efficacy of the more than 400 MSC-based treatments currently in clinical trials.
“Generally speaking, MSCs do have great potential for tissue regeneration,” said Sophia Khaldoyanidi, a stem-cell biologist at the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies in San Diego, California, who was not involved in the work. “Unfortunately, the majority of clinical trials did not reach their full potential. In my opinion, this is mostly due to the fact that we didn’t learn everything about the basic biology of these cells, and we rushed quickly to clinical trials. The current study is so important because they really tried to understand how to make sure that cells actually go to the location where we want them to be.”
Bioengineer Jeffrey Karp of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and his colleagues first needed to select an ...
