Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Lupus nephritis

Mesenchymal stromal cells in lupus nephritis

Immunomodulatory treatment with mesenchymal stromal cells represents a novel therapeutic modality for immune-mediated kidney injury, including in the settings of renal transplantation and glomerulonephritis. A new study illustrates the complexity of aligning clinical trial design, manufacturing and availability of biomarkers in order to turn this promising concept into a therapeutic reality.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Putative immunomodulatory mechanism of action of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs).

References

  1. Deng, D. Q., Zhang, P., Guo, Y. & Lim, T. O. A randomised double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of allogeneic umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell for lupus nephritis. Ann. Rheum. Dis. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-211073 (2017).

  2. Sun, L. et al. Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in severe and refractory systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Rheum. 62, 2467–2475 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Wang, D. et al. Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in active and refractory systemic lupus erythematosus: a multicenter clinical study. Arthritis Res. Ther. 16, R79 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Chan, T. M. et al. Long-term study of mycophenolate mofetil as continuous induction and maintenance treatment for diffuse proliferative lupus nephritis. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 16, 1076–1084 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rovin, B. H. et al. Lupus nephritis: induction therapy in severe lupus nephritis — should MMF be considered the drug of choice? Clin. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 8, 147–153 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bernardo, M. E. & Fibbe, W. E. Mesenchymal stromal cells: sensors and switchers of inflammation. Cell Stem Cell 13, 392–402 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Rabelink, T. J. & Little, M. H. Stromal cells in tissue homeostasis: balancing regeneration and fibrosis. Nat. Rev. Nephrol. 9, 747–753 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Ball, L. M. et al. Multiple infusions of mesenchymal stromal cells induce sustained remission in children with steroid-refractory, grade III-IV acute graft-versus-host disease. Br. J. Haematol. 163, 501–509 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Reinders, M. E. J. et al. Autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells for the treatment of allograft rejection after renal transplantation: results of a phase I study. Stem Cells Transl. Med. 2, 107–111 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Panés, J. et al. Expanded allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Cx601) for complex perianal fistulas in Crohn's disease: a phase 3 randomised, double-blind controlled trial. Lancet 388, 1281–1290 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Willem E. Fibbe.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fibbe, W., Rabelink, T. Mesenchymal stromal cells in lupus nephritis. Nat Rev Nephrol 13, 452–453 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2017.100

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2017.100

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing