Synovial mesenchymal stem cells and their applications in musculoskeletal regeneration

Stem cell therapy represents the cutting edge of regenerative medicine. The prospect of engineering whole functional tissue has long been sought after, and stem cells hold the key to this. Recently, a class of stem cells known as synovial mesenchymal stem cells (SMSCs) has come to the forefront of musculoskeletal stem cell research. They were first extracted from the synovium of the knee joints and exhibit the common MSC trait of multipotency. SMSCs however display high in vitro expandability and superior chondrogenic potential as compared to their other MSC counterparts. This chapter starts with a review on the extraction, isolation, and culture techniques of SMSCs, followed by an overview of SMSC characteristic and properties. This chapter will then delve into SMSC applications for musculoskeletal regeneration, including that for cartilage, bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscles. For each of the tissues, some of the current challenges and the differing strategies adopted to overcome them such as transgenic enhancement, growth factor induction, and scaffold-based tissue engineering will be discussed in detail.