Engineering of Human Hepatocyte Lines for Cell Therapies in Humans: Prospects and Remaining Hurdles

Cytokines in adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells promote the healing of liver disease

Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) are a treatment cell source for patients with chronic liver injury. ADSCs are characterized by being harvested from the patient's own subcutaneous adipose tissue, a high cell yield (i.e., reduced immune rejection response), accumulation at a disease nidus, suppression of excessive immune response, production of various growth factors and cytokines, angiogenic effects, anti-apoptotic effects, and control of immune cells via cell-cell interaction. We previously showed that conditioned medium of ADSCs promoted hepatocyte proliferation and improved the liver function in a mouse model of acute liver failure. Furthermore, as found by many other groups, the administration of ADSCs improved liver tissue fibrosis in a mouse model of liver cirrhosis. A comprehensive protein expression analysis by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry showed that the various cytokines and chemokines produced by ADSCs promote the healing of liver disease. In this review, we examine the ability of expressed protein components of ADSCs to promote healing in cell therapy for liver disease. Previous studies demonstrated that ADSCs are a treatment cell source for patients with chronic liver injury. This review describes the various cytokines and chemokines produced by ADSCs that promote the healing of liver disease.