Editorial: MSC Communication in Physiological and Pathological Settings

Overview & Synopsis

Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSC), first identified within bone marrow, have been studied since the late 1960s. Pioneering studies by Friedenstein and others showed that MSC had the potential for differentiation into osteoblasts, chondrocytes and adipocytes and that, in addition, they supported hematopoiesis. Subsequent work highlighted the presence of similar cells in multiple tissue sites and uncovered other signature MSC properties such as their immunomodulatory and antifibrotic activities. Furthermore, in vivo pre-clinical animal models and first-in-human clinical trials have extended these analyses of MSC to evaluate their transplantation actions in many types of disorders. The ability of MSC to communicate with their local microenvironment and systemically is now appreciated as their predominant mechanism of action, making them a privileged tool for regenerative medical applications, through mechanisms of action that are a direct consequence of their microenvironmental and/or systemic communication capacity. However, the means of communication can be varied according to the physiological or pathophysiological situation and may include the secretion of small molecules, cytokines, adipokines, microRNA, and exosome/vesicles as well as direct cell-cell interactions mediated via surface receptors. This special issue contains a series of articles over-viewing the current status of MSC’s communication avenues in the context of pathophysiological settings and clinical translation. These nine papers focus on two central themes (Planat-Benard et al., 2021): the crosstalk of MSC and immune cells and; (2) the involvement of MSC in tissue physiology and pathophysiology.