Adipokines at the crossroads of obesity and mesenchymal stem cell therapy

Abstract

Metabolic disorders: Stem cell therapy in obesity Adjusting the activity of a group of molecules derived from body fat might improve treatment success for mesenchymal (adult) stem cell (MSC) therapy in metabolic disorders. MSC therapy shows promise for treating obesity and other metabolic conditions, however the obese microenvironment can impair MSC potency, function, and survival. To help clarify why this happens, Pil-Hoon Park and co-workers at Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan, Korea, reviewed current understanding of adipokines, a group of signaling molecules and hormones derived from body fat tissues, and their role in the interaction between obesity and MSC dysfunction. MSCs taken from obese subjects tend to show disrupted function, including slower proliferation and lower capacity for invasion. This appears to be linked to dysregulated adipokine secretion, triggering abnormal behavior in both resident and transplanted MSCs.