Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is used to treat hematological disorders, autoimmune diseases (ADs) and lymphoid cancers. Intra bone marrow-BMT (IBM-BMT) has been proven to be a powerful strategy for allogeneic BMT due to the rapid hematopoietic recovery and the complete restoration of T cell functions. IBM-BMT not only replaces hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) but also mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). MSCs are multi-potent stem cells that can be isolated from bone marrow (BM), umbilical cord blood (UCB), and adipose tissue. MSCs play an important role in the support of hematopoiesis, and modify and influence the innate and adaptive immune systems. MSCs also differentiate into mesodermal, endodermal and ectodermal lineage cells to repair tissues. This review aims to summarize the functions of BM-derived-MSCs, and the treatment of intractable diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and malignant tumors with IBM-BMT.
Keywords: autoimmune diseases; intra-bone marrow-bone marrow transplantation; malignant tumors; mesenchymal stem cell; rheumatoid arthritis.