The Importance of HLA Assessment in “Off-the-Shelf” Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells Based-Therapies

The need for more effective therapies of chronic and acute diseases has led to the attempts of developing more adequate and less invasive treatment methods. Regenerative medicine relies mainly on the therapeutic potential of stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), due to their immunosuppressive properties and tissue repair abilities, seem to be an ideal tool for cell-based therapies. Taking into account all available sources of MSCs, perinatal tissues become an attractive source of allogeneic MSCs. The allogeneic MSCs provide “off-the-shelf” cellular therapy, however, their allogenicity may be viewed as a limitation for their use. Moreover, some evidence suggests that MSCs are not as immune-privileged as it was previously reported. Therefore, understanding their interactions with the recipient’s immune system is crucial for their successful clinical application. In this review, we discuss both autologous and allogeneic application of MSCs, focusing on current approaches to allogeneic MSCs therapies, with a particular interest in the role of human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and HLA-matching in allogeneic MSCs transplantation. Importantly, the evidence from the currently completed and ongoing clinical trials demonstrates that allogeneic MSCs transplantation is safe and seems to cause no major side-effects to the patient. These findings strongly support the case for MSCs efficacy in treatment of a variety of diseases and their use as an “off-the-shelf” medical product.