Abstract
Menstrual blood is a unique body fluid that contains mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). These cells have attracted a great deal of attention due to their exceptional advantages including easy access and frequently accessible sample source and no need for complex ethical and surgical interventions, as compared to other tissues. Menstrual blood-derived MSCs possess all the major stem cell properties and even have a greater proliferation and differentiation potential as compared to bone marrow-derived MSCs, making them a perspective tool in a further clinical practice. Although the potential of menstrual blood stem cells to differentiate into a large variety of tissue cells has been studied in many studies, their chondrogenic properties have not been extensively explored and investigated. Articular cartilage is susceptible to traumas and degenerative diseases, such as osteoarthritis, and has poor self-regeneration capacity and therefore requires more effective therapeutic technique. MSCs seem promising candidates for cartilage regeneration; however, no clinically effective stem cell-based repair method has yet emerged. This chapter focuses on studies in the field of menstrual blood-derived MSCs and their chondrogenic differentiation potential and suitability for application in cartilage regeneration. Although a very limited number of studies have been made in this field thus far, these cells might emerge as an efficient and easily accessible source of multipotent cells for cartilage engineering and cell-based chondroprotective therapy.
Highlights
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with their multipotent differentiation capability attract a lot of attention from researchers, developing possible ways of employing these cells in clinical practice
MSC properties, including multiple differentiation, have been confirmed for these cells, while their differentiation capability and multipotency were even greater than bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMMSCs), suggesting that Menstrual blood-derived EnSCs (MenSCs) are potent candidates for clinical applications
Menstrual blood is a unique body fluid that contains multipotent cells with typical characteristics of MSCs, while with a greater proliferative and differentiation capability than classical bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMMSCs). These advantages, as well as the ease of access of MenSCs due to possibility of repeated noninvasive menstrual blood sample collection even from the same donor, make MenSCs a promising cellular source for regenerative medicine applications. These cells have many more benefits comparing to other tissue MSCs, some of the research niches still need further investigation to fully identify the applicability of MenSCs for basic research and clinical applications
Summary
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with their multipotent differentiation capability attract a lot of attention from researchers, developing possible ways of employing these cells in clinical practice. MSCs have been isolated and studied from different sources, including bone marrow, adipose tissue, synovial membrane, umbilical cord, and dental pulp [1]. MSC properties, including multiple differentiation, have been confirmed for these cells, while their differentiation capability and multipotency were even greater than bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMMSCs), suggesting that MenSCs are potent candidates for clinical applications. MenSCs are much easier to access compared to BMMSCs as their collection does not require complicated ethical procedures or any invasive surgical interventions, providing an option of repeated sample collection in the same donor. These advantages suggest MenSCs as an attractive tool for regenerative medicine
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