AUTHOR=Damasceno Patricia Kauanna Fonseca , de Santana Thaís Alves , Santos Girlaine Café , Orge Iasmim Diniz , Silva Daniela Nascimento , Albuquerque Juliana Fonseca , Golinelli Giulia , Grisendi Giulia , Pinelli Massimo , Ribeiro dos Santos Ricardo , Dominici Massimo , Soares Milena Botelho Pereira TITLE=Genetic Engineering as a Strategy to Improve the Therapeutic Efficacy of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells in Regenerative Medicine JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2020.00737 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2020.00737 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) have been widely studied in the field of regenerative medicine for applications in the treatment of several disease settings. The therapeutic potential of MSCs has been evaluated in studies in vitro and in vivo, especially based on their anti-inflammatory and pro-regenerative action, through the secretion of soluble mediators. In many cases, however, insufficient engraftment and limited beneficial effects of MSCs indicate the need of approaches to enhance their survival, migration and therapeutic potential. Genetic engineering emerges as a means to induce the expression of different proteins and soluble factors with a wide range of applications, such as growth factors, cytokines, chemokines, transcription factors, enzymes and microRNAs. Distinct strategies have been applied to induce genetic modifications with the goal to enhance the potential of MCSs. This review aims to contribute to the update of the different genetically engineered tools employed for MSCs modification, as well as the factors investigated in different fields in which genetically engineered MSCs have been tested.