Mesenchymal Stem Cells as a Prospective Therapy for the Diabetic Foot

Figure 1

Mechanism of the effect of transplantation of MSCs on diabetic PAD. The mechanism of the recovery effect mediated by stem cell transplantation stems from two pathways: one is the secretion of angiogenic factors and cytokines and the other is the engraftment and differentiation of the cells into tissue constituents. Stem cells can specifically improve the local secretion and expression of angiogenic factors and cytokines, which contributes to the reconstruction of the microcirculation system and the improvement of blood flow and islet β cell dysfunction, in turn leading to the improvement of diabetic PAD. Stem cells can also differentiate into endothelial cells to achieve recovery of endothelial cell dysfunction. These effects may be associated with miRNA and MEX.