Functional heterogeneity of mesenchymal stem cells from natural niches to culture conditions: implications for further clinical uses

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are present in all organs and tissues. Several studies have shown the therapeutic potential effect of MSC or their derived products. However, the functional heterogeneity of MSC constitutes an important barrier for transferring these capabilities to the clinic. MSC heterogeneity depends on their origin (biological niche) or the conditions of potential donors (age, diseases or unknown factors). It is accepted that many culture conditions of the artificial niche to which they are subjected, such as O₂ tension, substrate and extracellular matrix cues, inflammatory stimuli or genetic manipulations can influence their resulting phenotype. Therefore, to attain a more personalized and precise medicine, a correct selection of MSC is mandatory, based on their functional potential, as well as the need to integrate all the existing information to achieve an optimal improvement of MSC features in the artificial niche.

Keywords: Aging diseases; Conditioned medium; Diabetes; Exosomes; Extracellular vesicles; Lupus; Regenerative medicine; Secretome.

Fig. 1

Schematic representation of MSC heterogeneity in their different niches and factors that could influence their fate

Fig. 2

Factors related to modifiable culture conditions which may influence the quality of MSC to obtain tailor-made secretome-derived products (paracrine factors, microvesicles or exosomes)