Over the last decade, the acceleration in the clinical use of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) has been nothing short of spectacular. Perhaps most surprising is how little we know about the "MSC product." Although MSCs are being delivered to patients at an alarming rate, the regulatory requirements for MSC therapies (for example in terms of quality assurance and quality control) are nowhere near the expectations of traditional pharmaceuticals. That said, the standards that define a chemical compound or purified recombinant protein cannot be applied with the same stringency to a cell-based therapy. Biological processes are dynamic, adaptive and variable. Heterogeneity will always exist or emerge within even the most rigorously sorted clonal cell populations. With MSCs, perhaps more so than any other therapeutic cell, heterogeneity pervades at multiple levels, from the sample source to the single cell. The research and clinical communities collectively need to recognize and take steps to address this troublesome truth, to ensure that the promise of MSC-based therapies is fulfilled.
Keywords: cell subpopulations; cell-based therapy; heterogeneity; mesenchymal stromal cell; single cell technologies.