Review Article

Role of the Microenvironment in Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Based Strategies for Treating Human Liver Diseases

Figure 2

The crosstalk between mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and liver microenvironment. (1) MSCs regulate the survival, migration, differentiation proliferation, and apoptosis of liver cells and immune cells to cobuild the microenvironment promoting liver regeneration via cell-cell interactions and paracrine and signal pathways. (2) The capacity of immune regulation of MSCs might be influenced by the physical and chemical properties of ECMs, cytokines, cell-cell interaction, and signal pathways. HSCs: hepatic stellate cells; Tregs: regulatory T cells; Th: T helper; LSECs: liver sinusoid epithelial cells; MMP: matrix metalloproteinase; DCs: dendritic cells; M: macrophages; NK cells: natural killer cells; LTBPs: latent-TGF-β-binding proteins; L-ECM: liver-extracellular matrix; SDF-1: stromal cell-derived factor 1; HIF-1a: hypoxia-inducible factor-1a; TGF: transforming growth factor-beta; PGE2: prostaglandin E2; PD-L1: programmed cell death-ligand 1; CCL/CXCL: chemokine ligand; IL-10: interleukin-10; NK: natural killer; DCs: dendritic cells; TNTs: tunneling nanotubes.