Department of Surgery and Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada.
McCaig Institute for Bone & Joint Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Aug 11;22(16):8637. doi: 10.3390/ijms22168637.
Mesenchymal stem cells, also called medicinal signaling cells (MSC), have been studied regarding their potential to facilitate tissue repair for >30 years. Such cells, derived from multiple tissues and species, are capable of differentiation to a number of lineages (chondrocytes, adipocytes, bone cells). However, MSC are believed to be quite heterogeneous with regard to several characteristics, and the large number of studies performed thus far have met with limited or restricted success. Thus, there is more to understand about these cells, including the molecular recognition systems that are used by these cells to perform their functions, to enhance the realization of their potential to effect tissue repair. This perspective article reviews what is known regarding the recognition systems available to MSC, the possible systems that could be looked for, and alternatives to enhance their localization to specific injury sites and increase their subsequent facilitation of tissue repair. MSC are reported to express recognition molecules of the integrin family. However, there are a number of other recognition molecules that also could be involved such as lectins, inducible lectins, or even a MSC-specific family of molecules unique to these cells. Finally, it may be possible to engineer expression of recognition molecules on the surface of MSC to enhance their function in vivo artificially. Thus, improved understanding of recognition molecules on MSC could further their success in fostering tissue repair.
间充质干细胞，也被称为药用信号细胞（MSC），已经被研究了 30 多年，以了解其促进组织修复的潜力。这些细胞来源于多种组织和物种，能够分化为多种谱系（软骨细胞、脂肪细胞、骨细胞）。然而，MSC 被认为在许多特性上具有相当大的异质性，迄今为止进行的大量研究只取得了有限或有限的成功。因此，人们需要更多地了解这些细胞，包括这些细胞用来发挥其功能的分子识别系统，以增强它们对组织修复的潜在作用的实现。本文综述了目前已知的 MSC 可用的识别系统，可能寻找的系统，以及增强其向特定损伤部位定位和增加随后促进组织修复的替代方法。据报道，MSC 表达整合素家族的识别分子。然而，还有许多其他可能涉及的识别分子，如凝集素、诱导型凝集素，甚至是这些细胞特有的 MSC 特异性分子家族。最后，有可能在 MSC 表面工程表达识别分子，以增强其在体内的功能。因此，对 MSC 上识别分子的更好理解可能会进一步提高它们在促进组织修复方面的成功率。
