Recent progress and related patents on the applications of bone marrow-derived stem/progenitor cells in regenerative medicine and cancer therapies

Recent progress and related patents in the field of bone marrow (BM)-resident adult stem/progenitor cell research have attracted well attention because these immature cells can act as the potential easily accessible cell sources for the cell transplantation in regenerative medicine and cancer therapies. The BM-resident hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSCs and HPCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), endowed with a high self-renewal ability and multilineage differentiation potential, offer great promise to replace non-functional or lost cells and regenerate diseased and damaged tissues without a high-risk of graft rejection and major side effects. Particularly, the stimulation of the ex vivo or in vivo expansion and/or differentiation of a small subpopulation of BM-resident stem/progenitor cells or the use of genetically-modified BM stem/progenitor cells constitute potential cell-replacement and gene therapies with multiple applications in humans. Among the diseases that could be treated by the BM-derived stem/progenitor cell-based therapies, there are diverse hematopoietic, immune and vascular disorders, degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, diabetes mellitus as well as skin, liver, lung, and heart disorders. In addition, a combination of the current cancer therapies with an adjuvant treatment consisting of an autologous or allogeneic BM-derived stem/progenitor cell transplantation also represents a promising strategy for treating and even curing diverse aggressive, metastatic, recurrent and lethal cancers.