Stem cell culture media enriched with plant‐derived compounds: Cell differentiation enhancement

Abstract

The development of cell therapies to replace lost or damaged cells has attracted interest in the regenerative medicine field due to the multilineage differentiation ability of stem cells. However, there are some drawbacks regarding optimization in the differentiation protocols to obtain high efficiency and further translation into clinic settings, which have led to the identification of specific compounds that could overcome these challenges. For years, plants have been associated with useful therapeutic effects for the treatment of some human diseases due to their high content of bioactive compounds. These plant derivatives act as growth factors that could either modulate or promote cell differentiation by the activation of specific signaling pathways. In this context, the administration of stem cells supplemented with these compounds could have better outcomes as a treatment. Hence, supplementing stem cell culture with plant derivatives represents a cost‐effective strategy, as the purification of plant extracts is of relatively low cost compared to the production of recombinant growth factors, and also their use facilitates the compliance of good manufacturing practice guidelines compared to xenogeneic compounds. This review aims to describe the mechanism of action of the most well‐studied plant derivatives involved in cell differentiation enhancement, particularly in osteogenic and neural lineages. Additionally, current trends and challenges that must be addressed for successful implementation in clinical applications are discussed. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).