Looking Back at the Past Year of Stem Cell Reviews and Reports
the clinic and proposed some solutions to this problem [2] This issue is crucial to the therapeutic future of these cells. It is well known that the only stem cells that have so far been successfully applied in regenerative medicine in patients and are safe are those isolated from postnatal tissues. To address this topic we published several excellent papers that focus on the application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) Particularly worth mentioning is discussed in October issue of SCRR a new strategy to obtain decellularized extracellular matrices from MSC cultures, and in January issue a new application of MSCs to attenuate the adverse effects of immunosuppressive drugs against distinct T cell subpopulations. The application of MSCs isolated from Wharton's Jelly to support ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells is presented in February issue of SCRR, and in the current issue of our journal the application of these cells in the potential immunotherapy of lymphoma cells. The biological effects of stem cells employed in tissue/ organ regeneration depend mainly on the secretion by these cells of several soluble factors and the release of extracellular microvesicles (ExMVs) The role of ExMVs in the regeneration of renal tubular cells was directly addressed by the Camussi group [3] In another interesting paper published in the current issue of SCRR, Barrera Ramirez addressed the role of ExMVs derived from bone marrow stromal cells from acute myeloid leukemia patients in the pathogenesis of this disorder. ExMVs represent an exciting new area of research, and we will be closely following further developments in this field. Regenerative medicine is still looking for an efficient source of stem cells that could be employed in repairing damaged organs. Among several excellent papers published this year, we recommend in April issue the interesting review by the Borlongan group discussing current stem cell therapies in stroke, Napoli's paper on the role of stem cell The first year of SCRR under new leadership closes with this December issue. We published almost 80 articles in 2017, which were carefully evaluated by me and five newly appointed section editors: Drs. Giovanni Camussi, Louis Pelus, Peter Quesenberry Edward Scott, and Henning Ulrich as well as 18 veteran and newly recruited editorial board members. This scholarly output was also critically dependent on our reviewers, and we are grateful to them for their hard work and dedication. SCRR covers a broad range of topics, including different aspects of stem cell biology and tissue/organ regeneration. We are open not only to clear scientific progress but also to new and challenging ideas as well as controversy. We follow the advice of Albert Einstein, who said "A blind belief in authority is worst enemy of truth." In the past year we published several papers on progress in the various applications of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) Just to highlight a few outstanding papers, the Kang group published an excellent review of iPSC technology, the direct conversion of cells, and the reprogramming of enhancers in somatic cell nuclear transfer [1] In a series of highly interesting papers, in April Issue of SCRR Connor discussed the application of iPSCs as a model for understanding Parkinson's disease, and Augustyniak compared currently available protocols to generate chondrocyte like cell. Furthermore, in October issue Zatz described a potential strategy to employ these cells to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) On the other hand, the Murakawa group discussed critically current problems with genomic instability in iPSCs that preclude their immediate application in
Stem Cell Reviews and Reports