Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Fibrotic Disease

Elie El Agha; Rafael Kramann; Rebekka K Schneider; Xiaokun Li; Werner Seeger; Benjamin D Humphreys; Saverio Bellusci

doi:10.1016/j.stem.2017.07.011

Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Fibrotic Disease

Cell Stem Cell. 2017 Aug 3;21(2):166-177. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2017.07.011.

Authors

Elie El Agha¹, Rafael Kramann², Rebekka K Schneider³, Xiaokun Li⁴, Werner Seeger⁵, Benjamin D Humphreys⁶, Saverio Bellusci⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Life Sciences, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou University-Wenzhou Medical University Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedicine, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China; Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS), Universities of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center (UGMLC), Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Giessen, Germany. Electronic address: elie.el-agha@innere.med.uni-giessen.de.
² Division of Nephrology and Clinical Immunology, Medical Faculty RWTH Aachen University, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
³ Department of Hematology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Hematology, Oncology, Hemostaseology, and Stem Cell Transplantation, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
⁴ Institute of Life Sciences, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou University-Wenzhou Medical University Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedicine, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁵ Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS), Universities of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center (UGMLC), Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Giessen, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, W.G. Kerckhoff Institute, Bad Nauheim, Germany.
⁶ Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA.
⁷ Institute of Life Sciences, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou University-Wenzhou Medical University Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedicine, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China; Excellence Cluster Cardio-Pulmonary System (ECCPS), Universities of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center (UGMLC), Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Giessen, Germany. Electronic address: saverio.bellusci@innere.med.uni-giessen.de.

PMID: 28777943
DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2017.07.011

Abstract

Fibrosis is associated with organ failure and high mortality and is commonly characterized by aberrant myofibroblast accumulation. Investigating the cellular origin of myofibroblasts in various diseases is thus a promising strategy for developing targeted anti-fibrotic treatments. Recent studies using genetic lineage tracing technology have implicated diverse organ-resident perivascular mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-like cells and bone marrow-MSCs in myofibroblast generation during fibrosis development. In this Review, we give an overview of the emerging role of MSCs and MSC-like cells in myofibroblast-mediated fibrotic disease in the kidney, lung, heart, liver, skin, and bone marrow.

Keywords: lineage tracing; mesenchymal stem cells; organ fibrosis.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Fibrosis
Humans
Mesenchymal Stem Cells / metabolism*
Organ Specificity

Grants and funding

R01 HL086322/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States