Therapeutic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Their Secretome in the Treatment of Glaucoma

Table 1

Molecular mechanism responsible for beneficial effects of MSCs and their secretome in glaucoma treatment.

Type of MSCs or their secretome	Target cell	MSC-derived factor	Mechanism of action	Effect	Ref.
DP-MSCs; MSCs^NGF	RGCs	NGF	Enhanced expression of Bcl-2 and attenuated expression of Bax in RGCs	Reduced apoptosis of RGCs	[5, 47, 48]
DP-MSCs; MSCs^BDNF	RGCs	BDNF	Activation of c-jun and suppression of caspase-2 in RGCs	Increased survival of RGCs	[40, 47, 48]
BM-MSCs	RGCs	PDGF; CNTF	Increased phosphorylation and activation of STAT-3	Reduced apoptotic loss of RGCs	[6, 50]
BM-MSC-Exos	RGCs	BDNF; NGF; PDGF	Trophic support; miR-17-92 and miR-21-dependent suppression of PTEN	Increased regeneration of RGCs	[5, 56–58]
AF-MSC-Exos	T cells	TGF-β; HGF	Suppression of Janus kinase/Stat pathways in inflammatory T cells	Attenuated inflammation in glaucomatous eyes	[5, 67, 68]
TM-MSCs; BM-MSC; BM-MSC-CM	TM cells	sox2; notch1; HIF-1	Activation of autophagy-related mitogenic neuropeptide Apelin; decreased myosin phosphorylation; replacement of injured TM cells	Reduced apoptosis of TM cells; relaxation of TM cells; reduced aqueous humor outflow resistance; attenuated IOP	[9, 75, 76]

Abbreviations: DP-MSCs: dental pulp-derived MSCs; NGF: nerve growth factor; MSCs^NGF: NGF-overexpressing MSCs; RGCs: retinal ganglion cells; BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor; MSCs^BDNF: BDNF-overexpressing MSCs; BM-MSCs: bone marrow-derived MSCs; PDGF: platelet-derived growth factor; CNTF: ciliary neurotrophic factor; STAT-3: signal transducer and activator of transcription 3; Exos: exosomes; PTEN: phosphatase and tensin homolog; AF-MSCs: amniotic fluid-derived MSCs; TGF-β: transforming growth factor-β; HGF: hepatocyte growth factor; MSC-CM: MSC-derived conditioned medium; HIF-1: hypoxia-inducible factor 1; IOP: intraocular pressure.