Mesenchymal stem cells

About 40 years ago Friedenstein described stromal cells in the bone marrow that were spindle shaped and proliferate to form colonies. These cells attach to plastic and are able to differentiate under defined in vitro conditions into multiple cell types present in many different tissues, e.g. osteoblasts, chondroblasts, adipocytes, etc. Later on these cells, obtained from postnatal bone marrow, were called mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) or stromal stem cells. Recently the presence of somewhat similar cells has been demonstrated in many other tissues too. In spite of extensive attempts to characterize these cells we are still lacking definitive in vivo markers of MSC although retrospective functional data strongly support the existence of common adult stem cells that have the capacity to differentiate along various specific differentiation lineages. Since MSC can be rather easily isolated from the bone marrow and can also be expanded in vitro they have become a prime target for researchers of tissue regeneration. These cells have now been extensively used for transplantation experiments in animals and also for some therapeutic trials in humans. However, much new research is needed to learn enough on the molecular mechanisms of MSC differentiation to evaluate their full capacity for tissue regeneration.