HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

This Article Free via Open Access: OA OA Full Text Full Text (PDF) OA All Versions of this Article: 2007-0637v1 2007-0637v2 25/11/2896    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Phinney, D. G. Articles by Prockop, D. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Phinney, D. G. Articles by Prockop, D. J.

TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL RESEARCH: MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS SERIES

Concise Review: Mesenchymal Stem/Multipotent Stromal Cells: The State of Transdifferentiation and Modes of Tissue Repair—Current Views

Center for Gene Therapy, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Key Words. Mesenchymal stem cells • Marrow stromal cells • Marrow stromal stem cells • Cellular therapy • Transdifferentiation

Correspondence: Donald G. Phinney, Ph.D., SL-99, Center for Gene Therapy, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA. Telephone: 504-988-7755; Fax: 504-988-7710; e-mail: dphinne{at}tulane.edu

Received August 9, 2007; accepted for publication September 21, 2007.
First published online in STEM CELLS EXPRESS   September 27, 2007.



Mesenchymal stem cells or multipotent stromal cells (MSCs) isolated from the bone marrow of adult organisms were initially characterized as plastic adherent, fibroblastoid cells with the capacity to generate heterotopic osseous tissue when transplanted in vivo. In recent years, MSCs or MSC-like cells have been shown to reside within the connective tissue of most organs, and their surface phenotype has been well described. A large number of reports have also indicated that the cells possess the capacity to transdifferentiate into epithelial cells and lineages derived from the neuroectoderm. The broad developmental plasticity of MSCs was originally thought to contribute to their demonstrated efficacy in a wide variety of experimental animal models of disease as well as in human clinical trials. However, new findings suggest that the ability of MSCs to alter the tissue microenvironment via secretion of soluble factors may contribute more significantly than their capacity for transdifferentiation in tissue repair. Herein, we critically evaluate the literature describing the plasticity of MSCs and offer insight into how the molecular and functional heterogeneity of this cell population, which reflects the complexity of marrow stroma as an organ system, may confound interpretation of their transdifferentiation potential. Additionally, we argue that this heterogeneity also provides a basis for the broad therapeutic efficacy of MSCs.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.