Aging-related genes in mesenchymal stem cells: a mini-review

Adult stem cells in mammalian organs play pivotal roles in the maintenance and repair of these organs throughout the life of the adult and maintain the proper homeostasis of a tissue or organ. Among the adult stem cells described to date, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are highlighted for clinical applications because MSCs have many advantages for cell therapy, including multilineage differentiation, homing, immune modulation and wound-healing effects. However, as the aging of MSCs leads to an age-associated decline in their number and function, it is important to clarify the age-associated factors and regulatory mechanism associated with the MSC aging process. In this review, we amass and discuss the recent data related to age-associated genes in MSCs. In particular, the activities of epigenetic regulatory factors, including histone acetylase and DNA methyltransferase, modulate gene expression and crosstalk with each other during the MSC senescence process. p16(INK4A) and high-mobility group A2 play important age-associated roles in the regulation of MSC stemness, and lamin A- and prelamin A-dependent nuclear abnormalities have significant biological relevance in MSC aging. Taken together, the information described here, including the epigenetic regulatory factors, transcription factors and cell signaling, could be used toward the development of treatments for MSC aging and related defects.