Mesenchymal stem cells as the game-changing tools in the treatment of various organs disorders: Mirage or reality?

Recently a growing attention in scientific community has been gathered on potential application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in various fields of medicine. Owing to the fact that they can be easily isolated from different sources, and simply proliferated in large quantities while keeping their original biological characteristics, they can be successfully used as cell-based therapeutics. Engineering MSCs and other type of stem cells to be carriers of therapeutic agents is a new tactic in the targeted gene and cell therapy of cancers and degenerative diseases. Various useful properties of MSCs including tropism toward tumor/injury site(s), weakly immunogenic, production of anti-inflammatory molecules, and safety against normal tissues have made them prone for regenerative medicine, targeted therapy and treating injured tissues, and immunological abnormalities. In this review, we introduce latest advances, methods, and applications of MSCs in gene therapy of various malignant organ disorders. Additionally, we will cover the problems and challenges which researchers have faced with when trying to translate their basic experimental findings in MSCs research to clinically applicable therapeutics.