Department of Molecular Immunology, Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction "Acad. Kiril Bratanov", Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 73 Tsarigradsko Shose, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria.
Curr Stem Cell Res Ther. 2020;15(6):482-491. doi: 10.2174/1574888X15666200310171547.
Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are localized throughout the adult body as a small population in the stroma of the tissue concerned. In injury, tissue damage, or tumor formation, they are activated and leave their niche to migrate to the site of injury, where they release a plethora of growth factors, cytokines, and other bioactive molecules. With the accumulation of data about the interaction between MSCs and tumor cells, the dualistic role of MSCs remains unclear. However, a large number of studies have demonstrated the natural anti-tumor properties inherent in MSCs, so this is the basis for intensive research for new methods using MSCs as a tool to suppress cancer cell development. This review focuses specifically on advanced approaches in modifying MSCs to become a powerful, precision- targeted tool for killing cancer cells, but not normal healthy cells. Suppression of tumor growth by MSCs can be accomplished by inducing apoptosis or cell cycle arrest, suppressing tumor angiogenesis, or blocking mechanisms mediating metastasis. In addition, the chemosensitivity of cancer cells may be increased so that the dose of the chemotherapeutic agent used could be significantly reduced.
间充质干细胞（MSCs）作为一小部分存在于相关组织的基质中，分布于成年机体的各个部位。在损伤、组织损伤或肿瘤形成时，它们被激活并离开其巢，迁移到损伤部位，在那里它们释放大量的生长因子、细胞因子和其他生物活性分子。随着关于 MSCs 与肿瘤细胞相互作用的数据的积累，MSCs 的双重作用仍不清楚。然而，大量的研究已经证明了 MSCs 所固有的天然抗肿瘤特性，因此这是利用 MSCs 作为工具抑制癌细胞发展的新方法的深入研究的基础。这篇综述专门关注了修饰 MSCs 以成为一种强大的、精准靶向的杀伤癌细胞而不杀伤正常健康细胞的方法。MSCs 通过诱导细胞凋亡或细胞周期阻滞、抑制肿瘤血管生成或阻断介导转移的机制来抑制肿瘤生长。此外，可以提高癌细胞的化疗敏感性，从而可以显著减少所用化疗药物的剂量。
