Adult stem cells and skeletal repair and regeneration

Bone marrow or adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were used to test the hypothesis that MSCs delivered via circulatory system into developing mice will migrate, home to bone, differentiate into osteoblasts and deposit bone matrix. By using this approach, it was demonstrated that MSCs injected in developing mice will migrate and engraft in the bones of the developing mice. However, the number of cells that migrate to bone is very small and may not be of clinical relevance. To overcome these obstables, cells were preconditioned to bone microenvironment prior to cell delivery to the recipients. Data show that MSCs are transplantable and can be targeted to tissues of interest for possible repair and regeneration of specific tissues.