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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells that can be isolated from various tissues in the adult body. MSCs should be characterized by three criteria for regenerative medicine. MSCs must (1) adhere to plastic surfaces, (2) express specific surface antigens, and (3) differentiate into mesodermal lineages, including chondrocytes, osteoblasts, and adipocytes, in vitro. Interestingly, MSCs have immunomodulatory features and secrete trophic factors and immune receptors that regulate the microenvironment in host tissue. These specific and unique therapeutic properties make MSCs ideal as therapeutic agents in vivo. Specifically, pre-clinical and clinical investigators generated inflammatory and fibrotic diseases models, and then transplantation of MSCs into diseases models for therapeutic effects investigation. In this review, we characterize MSCs from various tissues and describe their applications for treating various inflammation and fibrotic diseases.

Mesenchymal stem cells, also known as multipotent stromal progenitor cells, can differentiate into cells of mesodermal lineage. Gangliosides are sialic acid-conjugated glycosphingolipids that are believed to regulate cell differentiation and several signaling molecules. These molecules are localized in glycosphingolipid-enriched microdomains on the cell surface and are regulated by glycosphingolipid composition. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling plays a critical role in chondrogenic differentiation. However, the role of gangliosides in chondrogenesis is not understood. In this study, the relationship between the ganglioside GM3 and TGF-β activation, during chondrogenic differentiation, was investigated using an aggregate culture of human synovial membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells. We showed that the gangliosides GM3 and GD3 were expressed after the chondrogenic differentiation of hSMSC aggregates. To test whether GM3 affected the chondrogenic differentiation of hSMSC aggregates, we used GM3 treatment during chondrogenic differentiation. The results showed that the group treated with 5 μM GM3 had higher expression of chondrogenic specific markers, increased toluidine blue, and safranin O staining, and increased accumulation of glycosaminoglycans compared with the untreated group. Furthermore, GM3 treatment enhanced TGF-β signaling via SMAD 2/3 during the chondrogenic differentiation of hSMSC aggregates. Taken together, our results suggested that GM3 may be useful in developing therapeutic agents for cell-based articular cartilage regeneration in articular cartilage disease.

Abstract: Human dental pulp-derived stem cells (hDPSCs) have been considered alternative sources of adult stem cells because of their potential to differentiate into multiple cell lineages. This study investigated the possible role of gangliosides in the neural differentiation of hDPSCs. When hDPSCs were cultured under neural differentiation conditions, expression of neural cell marker genes such as Nestin, MAP-2, and NeuN was detected. Immunostaining and high-performance thin-layer chromatography analysis showed that an increase in ganglioside biosynthesis was associated with neural differentiation of hDPSCs. Specifically, a significant increase in GD3 and GD1a expression was observed during neural differentiation. To confirm the role of gangliosides in neural differentiation, ganglioside biosynthesis was inhibited in hDPSCs by knockdown of UDP-glucose ceramide glucosyltransferase (Ugcg), which prevented differentiation into neural cells. These results suggest that gangliosides may play a role in the neural differentiation process of hDPSCs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]