Applications of Modified Mesenchymal Stem Cells as Targeted Systems against Tumor Cells.

Combined gene and cell therapy are promising strategies for cancer treatment. Given the complexity of cancer, several approaches are actively studied to fight this disease. Using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has demonstrated dual antitumor and protumor effects as they exert massive immune/regulatory effects on the tissue microenvironment.

Oxaliplatin Enhances the Apoptotic Effect of Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Delivering Soluble TRAIL in Chemoresistant Colorectal Cancer.

A key problem in colorectal cancer (CRC) is the development of resistance to current therapies due to the presence of cancer stem cells (CSC), which leads to poor prognosis. Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a protein that activates apoptosis in cancer cells through union with TRAIL death receptors. Cell therapies as delivery systems can produce soluble TRAIL (sTRAIL) and full-length TRAIL (flTRAIL), showing a high capacity to produce apoptosis in vitro and in vivo assays.

Cell Therapy as Target Therapy against Colon Cancer Stem Cells.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small subpopulation of cells within tumors with properties, such as self-renewal, differentiation, and tumorigenicity. CSCs have been proposed as a plausible therapeutic target as they are responsible for tumor recurrence, metastasis, and conventional therapy resistance. Selectively targeting CSCs is a promising strategy to eliminate the propagation of tumor cells and impair overall tumor development.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells Genetically Modified by Lentivirus-Express Soluble TRAIL and Interleukin-12 Inhibit Growth and Reduced Metastasis-Relate Changes in Lymphoma Mice Model.

Background: Cancer treatment has many side effects; therefore, more efficient treatments are needed. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have immunoregulatory properties, tumor site migration and can be genetically modified. Some proteins, such as soluble TRAIL (sTRAIL) and interleukin-12 (IL-12), have shown antitumoral potential, thus its combination in solid tumors could increase their activity.

Cancer Stem Cells in Tumor Microenvironment of Adenocarcinoma of the Stomach, Colon, and Rectum.

Gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas are one of the world's deadliest cancers. Cancer stem cells and the tissue microenvironment are highly regulated by cell and molecular mechanisms. Cancer stem cells are essential for maintenance and progression and are associated with resistance to conventional treatments.

A combined antitumor strategy of separately transduced mesenchymal stem cells with soluble TRAIL and IFNβ produces a synergistic activity in the reduction of lymphoma and mice survival enlargement.

As the understanding of cancer grows, new therapies have been proposed to improve the well-known limitations of current therapies, whose efficiency relies mostly on early detection, surgery and chemotherapy. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been introduced as a promissory and effective therapy. This fact is due to several useful features of MSCs, such as their accessibility and easy culture and expansion , and their remarkable ability for 'homing' towards tumors, allowing MSCs to exert their anticancer effects directly into tumors.

Inflammatory effect on the gastrointestinal system associated with COVID-19.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has provoked a global pandemic, mainly affecting the respiratory tract; however, a percentage of infected individuals can develop gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. Some studies describe the development of GI symptoms and how they affect the progression of COVID-19. In this review, we summarize the main mechanisms associated with gut damage during infection by SARS-CoV-2 as well as other organs such as the liver and pancreas.

Colorectal Cancer Stem Cells in the Progression to Liver Metastasis.

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer mortality. Tumorigenesis is a dynamic process wherein cancer stem cells (CSCs) and their microenvironment promote initiation, progression, and metastasis. Metastatic colonization is an inefficient process that is very complex and is poorly understood; however, in most cases, metastatic disease is not curable, and resistance mechanisms tend to develop against conventional treatments.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells: improving transgene expression level, transfection efficiency and cell viability.

Purpose: Advanced cancer is a catastrophic medical condition that is generally treated with surgery and conventional anticancer drugs, which are very toxic and often fail. A promising alternative is using genetically engineered mesenchymal stem cells. A popular method for genetically engineering mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is by employing transfection reagents.

How desirable and undesirable features of naïve or genetically reengineered mesenchymal stem cells are being considered in preclinical or clinical assays.

The implantation of adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has become a promising alternative in cancer treatments. Accordingly, in this article we revised the ultimate advances in the knowledge on the MSC-homing mechanism, the cancer cell and MSCs interactions and the microvesicles and exosomes used by malignant cells to transport and deliver pro-cancer cytokines or microRNA (miRNA), or by MSCs to favor or fight cancer progression. In addition, we analyzed the current knowledge generated by ongoing or terminated preclinical and clinical trials, using naive MSCs as natural anti-cancer living factors or gene-engineered MSCs as cytokine delivering vehicles, where anti-cancer cytokines were chosen and the pro-cancer factors were avoided.