Delivery of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Tackling Systemic Disorders

Development of methods for manipulating and culturing stem cells has enabled the emergence of stem cell therapy as a promising approach in diverse applications, ranging from tissue repair to treatment of intractable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders. Along with technological advances in systemic stem cell delivery, treating multiple injured or pathological sites simultaneously has been made possible. Despite this, most of the works on systemic stem cell transplantation at the moment have focused on the efficiency of tackling local disorders. The prospect of the therapy for enhancing systemic tissue repair, as well as for tackling systemic degenerative disorders, has rarely been seriously considered. The objective of this article is to fill this gap by reviewing the current status of research on systemic stem cell delivery, and by presenting the opportunities and challenges for translating systemic stem cell delivery from the laboratory to the clinic.