Stem cells have been used to repair and regenerate tissue and have been shown in recent years to have the plasticity necessary to improve conditions of solid organs. Given the success of bone marrow stem hematopoietic stem cells in this type of regenerative medicine, scientists have speculated that bone marrow stem cell mobilizers may be beneficial for treating organs that have undergone injury. Let’s discover stem cells for acute kidney injury and what potential they have for this condition.
Bone marrow stem cell mobilizers are substances that act to encourage stem cells from the bone marrow to move into the blood, where they can be collected, stored, and later used to replace bone marrow via a stem cell transplant. A recent paper published in Current Protein and Peptide Science covers about a decade of research on two bone marrow stem cell mobilizers, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and Plerixafor (AMD3100).
G-CSF is a glycoprotein that stimulates both stem cells and granulocytes to be released by bone marrow and enter the bloodstream. It is produced by a variety of tissues and immune cells and functionally acts as both a cytokine and a hormone. Plerixafor also stimulates the immune system and is used in patients with multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
According to the authors, the preclinical studies on the impact of these stem cell mobilizers confirm that these mobilizers may be an effective way to therapeutically approach with stem cells for acute kidney injury. While more research is needed to determine exactly how these bone marrow stem cell mobilizers act in acute kidney injury and what role they may play in therapy, these initial data appear to justify more investigations into the value of these substances for kidney care.
Reference: Xu, Y. et al. (2017). Stem cell mobilizers: Novel therapeutics for acute kidney injury. Current Protein Peptide Science, 18(12), 1195-1199.
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