Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Their Secretome in the Treatment of Glaucoma

Figure 1

Functional properties of MSCs. MSCs are able to suppress effector T cells in a juxtacrine manner (through the program death (PD) ligand: PD receptor interaction) or in a paracrine manner, via the production of soluble immunoregulatory factors (transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), HGF, nitric oxide (NO), indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), interleukin 10 (IL-10), interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), heme oxygenase- (HO-) 1, and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)), and differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts, and chondrocytes under standard culture conditions (a). Activation of Wnt/β-catenin, Notch, and Sonic-hedgehog pathways as well as inhibition of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) signaling in MSCs promoted their differentiation in neuron-like cells (b).

(a)

(b)