Mesenchymal stem cells and it's characterization

Although acceptable for cell based therapeutic applications, a rigorous understanding of the Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) requires a better definition of what an MSC is. Inspite of the fact that no unique markers are known for MSCs, many attempts have been made to develop a cell-surface antigen profile for the better purification and identification of MSCs, particularly important is whether MSCs isolated from different tissues are identifiable by the same immunophenotype. While the precise identity of MSCs remains a challenge, further understanding of their biological properties will be greatly advanced by analyzing the mechanisms that govern their differentiation potential. The ability of MSCs to differentiate into a variety of connective tissue cell types has rendered them an ideal candidate cell source for clinical tissue regeneration strategies. This review focuses specifically in the context of these advances in characterization of adult stem cells via selection of unique cell surface markers and regulation of lineage- specific differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.