“Cell-Free Therapeutics” from Components Secreted by Mesenchymal Stromal Cells as a Novel Class of Biopharmaceuticals

Abstract

Regenerative medicine is a fast growing multidisciplinary field aiming at the regeneration or replacement of damaged cells, tissues, or organs. Adult multipotent mesenchymal stro mal cells (MSCs) are often used as a principal therapeutic tool in this field. Along with dif - ferentiation potency, MSCs secrete a wide spectrum of paracrine factors and extracellular vesicles participating in tissue repair and regeneration. Thus, for injuries that require trophic stimulation, cell survival support, and/or resident stem cells activation to be restored, one can apply MSC-conditioned medium, a combination of products and extracellular vesicles in cell culture growth medium, secreted by MSC. It could mediate most of beneficial regen erative effects of MSC without possible side effects of using MSC themselves. However, before the clinical application of this promising biopharmaceutical, several issues such as manufacturing protocols, quality control, and others must be addressed. Subsequently, we