[New progress of study on labeling methods in vitro and distribution in vivo of mesenchymal stem cells]

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are a kind of non-hematopoietic adult stem cells with highly self-renewal and multilineage differentiation potential. Because MSC can be easily obtained and expanded in large amount in vitro, they have become a hot field of stem cell research in recent years. MSC as a seed carrier of cells and gene therapy have been widely used in cardiovascular, nervous, respiratory diseases, wound healing and other aspects in clinic. But some biological characteristics and the molecular control mechanisms of MSC are not very clear and need further explorations. The MSC isolated and cultured in vitro are a type of multipotent differentiation cells, which differentiation potential in vivo has still uncertained, the effectiveness and safety such as gene mutations and canceration in vivo remains to be explored. Deepgoing studys on homing characteristics, mechanisms and influence factors of MSC also contribute to the clinical application, and the studys on the MSC differentiation fate in microenvironment in vivo would be better for clinical application. So how stably and efficiently label MSC in vitro is the key problem to monitoring the survival, migration, distribution, proliferation and differentiation of MSC in vivo. This review summarizes the current progress of study on the new labeling methods in vitro of MSC, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of different in vitro labeling methods and application of appropriate conditions.