BACKGROUND Using kidneys from deceased donors is an available strategy to meet the growing need of grafts. However, higher incidences of delayed graft function (DGF) and acute rejection exert adverse effects on graft outcomes. Since ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and ongoing process of immune response to grafts are the major causes of DGF and acute rejection, the optimal induction interventi...

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating incurable disease. Stem-cell-based therapies represent a new possible strategy for ALS clinical research. The objectives of this Phase 1 clinical study were to assess the feasibility and toxicity of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation and to test the impact of a cell therapy in ALS patients. The trial was approved and monitored by the Natio...

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is an inevitable consequence of organ transplantation and a major determinant of patient and graft survival in kidney transplantation. Renal I/R injury can lead to fibrosis and graft failure. Although the exact sequence of events in the pathophysiology of I/R injury remains unknown, the role of inflammation has become increasingly clear. In this perspective, me...

Beta-cell transplantation is considered to be the most effective approach to cure type 1 diabetes (T1D). Unfortunately, the scarce availability of donor tissue limits the applicability of this therapy. Recent stem cell research progress shows stem cell therapy may be a potential means to solve this problem. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are self-renewable and multipotent adu...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Damages of pulmonary endothelial cells (PECs) represent a critical pathological process during acute lung injury (ALI), and precede pulmonary epithelial cell injury, and long-term lung dysfunction. Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has proven therapeutic effects on ALI, whereas the underlying mechanisms remain ill-defined. METHOD We transplanted MSCs in mice and...

OBJECTIVE Even though there is a therapeutic potential to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) with neural cell replenishment and replacement, immunological rejections of stem cell transplantation remain a challenging risk. Autologous stem cells from AD patients however may prove to be a promising candidate. Therefore, we studied the neuronal differentiation efficiency of bone marrow mesenchymal stem...

Although stem cell therapy is not a new field, the field was limited to transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells. Such transplantation has provided invaluable information for the emerging field with new stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an attractive source for therapy; reduced ethical concern, ease in expansion, as off-the-shelf stem cells. MSCs exert immune suppressive properti...

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of transplanting mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), genetically modified to express glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), to the contused rat spinal cord, and to subsequently assess their neural differentiation potential. MSCs expressing green fluorescent protein were transduced with a retroviral vector to express the neurotrophin GDNF. The tr...

AIM To investigate whether M1 or M2 polarization contributes to the therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in acute hepatic failure (AHF). METHODS MSCs were transfused into rats with AHF induced by D-galactosamine (DGalN). The therapeutic effects of MSCs were evaluated based on survival rate and hepatocyte proliferation and apoptosis. Hepatocyte regeneration capacity was evaluat...

Objective(s): Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) potentials make them appropriate for cell therapy including ability of differentiation and release of anti-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors secreta. For treatment of azoospermia to induce proliferation and differentiation of germ cells, MSCs transplantation has been introduced. The aim of the present experimental case-c...