Skeletal stem cells in regenerative medicine.

Postnatal stem cells have been isolated from a variety of tissues and they are highly expected to have potentiality to be utilized for cell-based clinical therapies. Bone marrow stromal stem cells (BMSSCs) derived from bone marrow stromal tissue have been identified as a population of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells that are capable of differentiating into osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondrocytes, muscle cells, and neural cells. The most significant tissue regeneration trait of BMSSCs is their in vivo bone regeneration capability, which has been widely studied for understanding molecular and cellular mechanisms of osteogenesis, and, more importantly, developing into a stem-cell-based therapy. Recent studies further demonstrated that BMSSC-mediated bone regeneration is a promising approach for regenerative medicine in clinical trials. However, there are some fundamental questions that remain to be answered prior to successful utilization of BMSSCs in clinical therapy. For instance, how to maintain stemness of BMSSCs will be a critical issue for developing methodologies to propagate multi-potential stem cells in vitro, in order to allow the development of effective clinical therapies.