Secretome of stem cells as an alternative to stem cell transplantation

Abstract

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Recent advances in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine raised hopes for future routine use of stem cells in restoration of tissue and organ function in various diseases and disorders. Oral-derived neural crest related stem cells (oNCSCs) have drawn attention in recent years because of their accessibility, plasticity, and high proliferative ability. The oNCSCs can undergo self-renewal and have multipotent differentiation ability, but do not have the ethical issues associated with other sources of stem cells. The tissue engineering methodologies combined with an increased understanding of oNCSCs biology will provide powerful tools for a wider spectrum of application of oNCSCs in various therapeutic strategies. Emerging evidence suggests that adult craniofacial tissues in vertebrates contain limited numbers of post-migratory neural crest-derived stem cells. Globally, the advances using oNCSCs in therapeutic, reconstructive, and orthopedic applications are the future of personalized and regenerative medicine. However, because oNCSCs technology is still in its infancy, interdisciplinary cooperation is needed to achieve successful clinical applications. Despite the unquestioned therapeutic benefit of stem cell transplantation, numerous studies have reported that the potential of adult stem cells to improve regeneration and healing of chronic wounds is mediated largely through their immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and angiogenic properties rather than being a result of engraft-ment and differentiation. Recent lines of evidence suggest that stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) harbour an anti-inflammatory, angiogenic and immunomodulatory potential that is comparable to ADSCs themselves without the associated risks. NCSCs possess immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive properties that are mainly mediated through secretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs). Notably both, the content (a specific combination of different proteins, lipids, microR-NAs as well as a small portion of mRNAs) and immunomodulatory features of EVs are cell type and context-dependent. In general, wound healing models in animal models represent a potent tool in regenerative medicine and allow quantitative measurement of regeneration by assessing the bone defect healing. Such quantitative parameters would greatly facilitate the evaluation of the effects of NCSC-derived EVs on wound (bone defect) healing.