ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In recent years, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been widely used in varieties of tissue repairs due to its easy accessibility, exceptional ability to proliferate, remarkable potential to multi-differentiate, and considerable effects on immunoregulation. However, cell pluripotency and secretory function are often severely impaired when the cells are cultured using the traditional two-dimensional method. Nevertheless, three-dimensionally cultured mesenchymal stem cells cannot only derive the advantages of mesenchymal stem cells per se, but maintain and potentiate cell capacity of proliferation, differentiation and secretion, which therefore enhance the ability to repair various tissue injuries. OBJECTIVE: To review the recent studies of three-dimensional cultured mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of multiple tissue injuries via various aspects including its biological characteristics, underlying mechanisms of tissue repair, culture methods as well as the application in various diseases, in order to elucidate the possibility of its future application and provide theoretical support for the clinical application of three-dimensional mesenchymal stem cells in the future. METHODS: We retrieved the main databases including PubMed, CNKI, and WanFang for relevant literature published in recent 10 years. The keywords were “mesenchymal stem cells, three-dimensional culture, hanging-drop culture, tissue repair” both in Chinese and English. The type of the article was not limited. Finally, 51 articles were included for result analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: It has been widely demonstrated that compared with the two-dimensional cultured cells, three-dimensional cultured mesenchymal stem cells show stronger effects on cell proliferation, differentiation, paracrine secretion, and immunoregulation. With the rapid development of three-dimensional sphenoid culture system and stem cell transplantation, three-dimensional cultured mesenchymal stem cells will show its great potential in the treatment of multiple tissue injuries.