Abstract
Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are thin membrane elongations among the cells that mediate the trafficking of subcellular organelles, biomolecules, and cues. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) receive substantial attention in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Many MSCs-based clinical trials are ongoing for dreadful diseases including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Mitochondrial trafficking through TNTs is one of the mechanisms used by MSCs to repair tissue damage and to promote tissue regeneration. Preclinical studies linked with ischemia, oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, inflammation, and respiratory illness have demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs via TNTs-mediated transfer of mitochondria and other molecules into the injured cells. On the other hand, MSCs-based cancer studies showed that TNTs may modulate chemoresistance in tumor cells as a result of mitochondrial trafficking. In the present review, we discuss the role of TNTs from preclinical studies associated with MSCs treatment. We discuss the impact of TNTs formation between MSCs and cancer cells and emphasize to study the importance of TNTs-mediated MSCs protection in disease models.
Highlights
Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are thin and long membrane elongations among the cells
Preclinical studies linked with ischemia, oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, inflammation, and respiratory illness have demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) via TNTs-mediated transfer of mitochondria and other molecules into the injured cells
Apart from preclinical studies associated with ischemia, oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, inflammation, and respiratory illness, MSCs formed TNTs with cancer cells where it has been demonstrated that TNTs enhance the chemoresistance property of tumor cells
Summary
Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are thin and long membrane elongations among the cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are stromal cells, nonhematopoietic in nature, and can be differentiated into multiple cell lineages. They can be isolated from dental tissue, bone marrow, adipose tissue, umbilical cord, placenta, and other resources. MSCs exhibit their therapeutic efficacy in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine through four potential mechanisms: i) direct cell-to-cell signaling; ii) paracrine signaling with soluble secreted factors such as hormones and proteins; iii) homing of released exosomes or microvesicles that contain immunoregulatory molecules and other molecules including RNA; iv) mitochondrial trafficking via TNTs or microvesicles [5]. We emphasize the importance to study the TNTs-based mechanism of action of MSCs in other preclinical models
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