Abstract
As an organism ages, many physiological processes change, including the immune system. This process, called immunosenescence, characterized by abnormal activation and imbalance of innate and adaptive immunity, leads to a state of chronic low-grade systemic inflammation, termed inflammaging. Aging and inflammaging are considered to be the root of many diseases of the elderly, as infections, autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases, degenerative diseases, and cancer. The role of mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) in the inflammaging process and the age-related diseases is not completely established, although numerous features of aging MSCs, including altered immunomodulatory properties, impeded MSC niche supporting functions, and senescent MSC secretory repertoire are consistent with inflammaging development. Although senescence has its physiological function and can represent a mechanism of tumor prevention, in most cases it eventually transforms into a deleterious (para-)inflammatory process that promotes tumor growth. In this review we are going through current literature, trying to explore the role of senescent MSCs in making and/or sustaining a microenvironment permissive to tumor development and to analyze the therapeutic options that could target this process.
Highlights
Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are adult stem cells that reside in perivascular stromal compartment of virtually all tissues, with the key role in maintaining tissue homeostasis
The data collected in this study suggest that senescent MSCs can support the progression of breast cancer by extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling
The authors confirmed the anti-senescent function of migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in a later study where it improved telomere length and telomerase activity, inhibited oxidative stress, and activated the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in doxorubicin-induced senescent rat Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC), suggesting this could be a good therapeutic strategy for cancer patients under doxorubicin treatment [122]
Summary
Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are adult stem cells that reside in perivascular stromal compartment of virtually all tissues, with the key role in maintaining tissue homeostasis. MSCs express a diverse repertoire of chemokine receptors that help them home preferentially to sites of injury or inflammation [2] Due to these unique characteristics, and owing to easy access, low immunogenicity, and lack of ethical issues, MSCs represent a promising cell-therapeutic tools in regenerative medicine and a growing number of diverse pathologies [3]. Their use is limited by a decline in their regenerative potential with increasing donor’s age, as well as by the need for their expansion in vitro, due to the limited yield of these cells from primary sources Both biological aging and prolonged in vitro culture can expose MSCs to various genotoxic stresses that activate DNA damage response (DDR) and can lead to a state of irreversible growth arrest, known as cellular senescence [4]. We review the available literature with the aim of exploring the role of senescent MSCs in creating and/or sustaining a tumor-supporting microenvironment, and to analyze emerging therapeutic options that target this process
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
