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The Role of Autophagy in the Maintenance of Stemness and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

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Abstract

Regulated self-consumption, also known as autophagy, is an evolutionary conserved process that degrades cellular components by directing them to the lysosomal compartment of eukaryotic cells. As a major intracellular degradation and recycling pathway, autophagy is crucial for maintaining and remodeling cellular homeostasis during normal cellular and tissue development. Recent studies have demonstrated that autophagy is necessary for the maintenance of cellular stemness and for a number of differentiation processes, including the lineage determination of mesenchymal stem cells. These are multipotent progenitor cells with self-renewal capacities that can give rise to a subset of tissues and thus hold a consistent potential in regenerative medicine. Here, we review the current literature on the complex liaison between autophagy induced by various extra- or intracellular stimuli and the molecular targets that affect mesenchymal stem cells proliferation and differentiation.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support by the Italian Ministry of the Health, Financial Support for Scientific Research “5 per mille 2012” (to NB and to Marta Columbaro), by the Regione Emilia Romagna, Programma di Ricerca Regione-Università 2010-2012– Strategic Programme ‘Regenerative medicine of cartilage and bone’ (to NB).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Orthopaedic Pathophysiology and Regenerative Medicine Unit, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy

      Francesca Vittoria Sbrana, Margherita Cortini, Sofia Avnet, Francesca Perut & Nicola Baldini

    2. Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

      Francesca Vittoria Sbrana, Margherita Cortini & Nicola Baldini

    3. SC Laboratory of Musculoskeletal Cell Biology, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy

      Marta Columbaro

    4. Department of Oncology-Pathology, Cancer Center Karolinska, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

      Angelo De Milito

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    1. Francesca Vittoria Sbrana
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    Correspondence to Nicola Baldini.

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    Francesca Vittoria Sbrana and Margherita Cortini contributed equally to this work.

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    Sbrana, F.V., Cortini, M., Avnet, S. et al. The Role of Autophagy in the Maintenance of Stemness and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Stem Cell Rev and Rep 12, 621–633 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-016-9690-4

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