Genetically modified adipose tissue−derived mesenchymal stem cells overexpressing CXCR4 display increased motility, invasiveness, and homing to bone marrow of NOD/SCID mice

Adipose tissue is one of the alternative sources of MSCs to bone marrow. We showed that AT-MSCs overexpressing CXCR4 preserve their ability for osteodifferentiation. Enhanced migration and engraftment of the transduced AT-MSCs into bone marrow indicate the usefulness of this strategy in overcoming low engraftment of MSCs in clinical approaches of cellular therapies for bone disorders and can represent a powerful tool in regenerative medicine and gene therapies. Thus, these cells may be used as an alternative to bone marrow−derived MSCs.