Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been isolated from a variety of tissues, such as bone marrow, skeletal muscle, dental pulp, bone, umbilical cord and adipose tissue. MSCs are used in regenerative medicine mainly based on their capacity to differentiate into specific cell types and also as bioreactors of soluble factors that will promote tissue regeneration from the damaged tissue cellular progenitors. In addition to these regenerative properties, MSCs hold an immunoregulatory capacity, and elicit immunosuppressive effects in a number of situations. Not only are they immunoprivileged cells, due to the low expression of class II Major Histocompatibilty Complex (MHC-II) and costimulatory molecules in their cell surface, but they also interfere with different pathways of the immune response by means of direct cell-to-cell interactions and soluble factor secretion. In vitro, MSCs inhibit cell proliferation of T cells, B-cells, natural killer cells (NK) and dendritic cells (DC), producing what is known as division arrest anergy. Moreover, MSCs can stop a variety of immune cell functions: cytokine secretion and cytotoxicity of T and NK cells; B cell maturation and antibody secretion; DC maturation and activation; as well as antigen presentation. It is thought that MSCs need to be activated to exert their immunomodulation skills. In this scenario, an inflammatory environment seems to be necessary to promote their effect and some inflammation-related molecules such as tumor necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ might be implicated. It has been observed that MSCs recruit T-regulatory lymphocytes (Tregs) to both lymphoid organs and graft. There is great controversy concerning the mechanisms and molecules involved in the immunosuppressive effect of MSCs. Prostaglandin E2, transforming growth factor-β, interleukins- 6 and 10, human leukocyte antigen-G5, matrix metalloproteinases, indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase and nitric oxide are all candidates under investigation. In vivo studies have shown many discrepancies regarding the immunomodulatory properties of MSCs. These studies have been designed to test the efficacy of MSC therapy in two different immune settings: the prevention or treatment of allograft rejection episodes, and the ability to suppress abnormal immune response in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Preclinical studies have been conducted in rodents, rabbits and baboon monkeys among others for bone marrow, skin, heart, and corneal transplantation, graft versus host disease, hepatic and renal failure, lung injury, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and lupus diseases. Preliminary results from some of these studies have led to human clinical trials that are currently being carried out. These include treatment of autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes mellitus; prevention of allograft rejection and enhancement of the survival of bone marrow and kidney grafts; and treatment of resistant graft versus host disease. We will try to shed light ...

Pluripotency is defined as the potential of a cell to differentiate into cells of the three germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm. In vivo, the presence of pluripotent stem cells is transient during the very early embryo. However, immortal cell lines with the same properties can be obtained in vitro and grown indefinitely in laboratories under specific conditions. These cells can be induced to differentiate into all the cell types of the organism through different assays, thereby proving their functional pluripotency. This review focuses on the pluripotent stem cells of mammals, giving special attention to the comparison between mouse and human. In particular, embryonic stem cells, epiblast-derived stem cells, primordial germ cells, embryonic germ cells, very small embryonic-like cells and induced pluripotent stem cells will be compared in terms of the following: in vivo specification and location; surface and intracellular markers; in vitro dependence on growth factors; signal transduction pathways; epigenetic characteristics; and pluripotency genes and functional assays.

In addition to being a protective shield, the cornea represents two thirds of the eye's refractive power. Corneal pathology can affect one or all of the corneal layers, producing corneal opacity. Although full corneal thickness keratoplasty has been the standard procedure, the ideal strategy would be to replace only the damaged layer. Current difficulties in corneal transplantation, mainly immune rejection and shortage of organ supply, place more emphasis on the development of artificial corneas. Bioengineered corneas range from prosthetic devices that solely address the replacement of the corneal function, to tissue-engineered hydrogels that allow regeneration of the tissue. Recently, major advances in the biology of corneal stem cells have been achieved. However, the therapeutic use of these stem cell types has the disadvantage of needing an intact stem cell compartment, which is usually damaged. In addition, long ex vivo culture is needed to generate enough cell numbers for transplantation. In the near future, combination of advanced biomaterials with cells from abundant outer sources will allow advances in the field. For the former, magnetically aligned collagen is one of the most promising ones. For the latter, different cell types will be optimal: 1) for epithelial replacement: oral mucosal epithelium, ear epidermis, or bone marrow- mesenchymal stem cells, 2) for stromal regeneration: adipose-derived stem cells and 3) for endothelial replacement, the possibility of in vitro directed differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells towards endothelial cells provides an exciting new approach.

The effect of local and systemic injections of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue (AD-MSC) into rabbit models of corneal allograft rejection with either normal-risk or high-risk vascularized corneal beds was investigated. The models we present in this study are more similar to human corneal transplants than previously reported murine models. Our aim was to prevent transplant rejection and increase the length of graft survival. In the normal-risk transplant model, in contrast to our expectations, the injection of AD-MSC into the graft junction during surgery resulted in the induction of increased signs of inflammation such as corneal edema with increased thickness, and a higher level of infiltration of leukocytes. This process led to a lower survival of the graft compared with the sham-treated corneal transplants. In the high-risk transplant model, in which immune ocular privilege was undermined by the induction of neovascularization prior to graft surgery, we found the use of systemic rabbit AD-MSCs prior to surgery, during surgery, and at various time points after surgery resulted in a shorter survival of the graft compared with the non-treated corneal grafts. Based on our results, local or systemic treatment with AD-MSCs to prevent corneal rejection in rabbit corneal models at normal or high risk of rejection does not increase survival but rather can increase inflammation and neovascularization and break the innate ocular immune privilege. This result can be partially explained by the immunomarkers, lack of immunosuppressive ability and immunophenotypical secretion molecules characterization of AD-MSC used in this study. Parameters including the risk of rejection, the inflammatory/vascularization environment, the cell source, the time of injection, the immunosuppression, the number of cells, and the mode of delivery must be established before translating the possible benefits of the use of MSCs in corneal transplants to clinical practice.

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