Bone marrow stromal cells in traumatic brain injury (TBI) therapy: True perspective or false hope?

Recent studies regard bone marrow stromal cells as a potential candidate for cellular therapy of traumatic brain injury and thus as an attractive alternative for embryonic and fetal stem cells. Numerous experiments indicate that bone marrow stromal cells play an important role in the repair of injured brain tissue and also support healing processes. Findings of in vitro and in vivo studies show that these cells have an ability to differentiate into cells of multiple tissues, including neurons and glial cells and to secrete an array of growth factors and cytokines, which have an influence on repair of damaged tissue. In addition, treatment of traumatic brain injury with bone marrow stromal cells promotes functional recovery of injured animals. Taking this into consideration, there is hope for using bone marrow stromal cells in brain injury therapy, which is very difficult because of specific events that occur in the pathological conditions. However, mechanisms responsible for the observed therapeutic potential of bone marrow stromal cells still remain unclear. The review presents achievements in studies on bone marrow stromal cells as a source of therapeutic benefits in treatment of traumatic brain injury and addresses the question of their possible future use in clinical trials.