This essential volume explores mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their potential to suppress immune-mediated inflammation. The chapters examine applications in autoimmune diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis; blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma; and reproductive complications, specifically pre-term labor and use of MSCs in vitro and in animal models to discover methods of suppressing the causal inflammatory response. It also further defines the methodologies required to develop research on MSCs in vitro into established preclinical animal models including those which are proven replicas of autoimmunity and pre-term labor, to name but two. Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Immunomodulation, part of Springer's Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, is an invaluable resource for researchers and clinicians working with stem cells, autoimmune disease, oncology, and reproductive medicine.

Autorentext
Charles J. Malemud received his Ph.D. from George Washington University and completed his postdoctoral studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Since then, Dr. Malemud has been a member of the faculty at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicinewhere he is presently Professor of Medicine & Anatomy in the Division of Rheumatic Diseases and Senior Investigator in the Arthritis Research Laboratory. He has published over 200 papers, chapters and reviews primarily in the field of chondrocyte biology. Professor Malemud is on the editorial board of several rheumatology, immunology and musculoskeletal journals and serves as Editor-in-Chief of two of them.
Eben Alsberg received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and was a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School.  He is currently a professor of Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedic Surgery at Case Western Reserve University and also serves as Director of the Stem Cell and Engineered Novel Therapeutics Laboratory. He was a Lady Davis Fellow at the Technion (Israel), and he is currently an International Scholar (Visiting Professor) at Kyung Hee University (Korea). His lab focuses on the engineering of new technologies to regenerate tissues and treat diseases through the development of novel biomaterials and microenvironments. He has co-authored over 90 peer reviewed papers and book chapters. His work has been recognized with the 2008 Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging Award and the Crain's Cleveland Business 2009 Forty Under 40 Award, and he was elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. He is on the editorial board of several tissue engineering and biomaterials journals, and multiple government agencies and foundations have supported his lab's research.

Inhalt
Overview.- Part I: Autoimmune Diseases.- Chapter 1: Altering Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Responses With Stem Cells.- Chapter 2: Rheumatoid Arthritis.- Chapter 3: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.- Chapter 4: Crohn's Diseases.- Chapter 5: Multiple Sclerosis.- Part II: Cancer.-  Chapter 6: Eliminating Cancer with Stem Cells by Correcting Dysfunctional Immunity.- Chapter 7: Asymmetric Cell Division of Stem and Progenitor Cells in Homeostasis and Cancer.- Chapter 8: Stem Cells: Modifiers of Defective Transcription Factor Activity Induced by Cytokines in Cancer.- Chapter 9: Therapeutic Targeting of Prostate Cancer with Stem Cells.- Chapter 10: The Efficacy of Stem Cells in Experimental Animal Models of Leukemia.- Part III: Cardiovascular Disease.- Chapter 11: Immune-Mediated Inflammation in Heart Disease.- Chapter 12: Stem Cell Therapy: Dampening Immune-Mediated Inflammation in Coronary Artery Disease.- Part IV: Neurodegenerative Diseases.- Chapter 13: Similarities and Differences in Stem Cells Between Cancer, Normal and Injured Brain.- Chapter 2: Defective Immune Modulation in Parkinson's Disease: Potential Role of Stem Cells.- Part V: Immune Modulation In Pregnancy and Parturition.- Chapter 14: Role of Immune-Mediated Inflammation in Pregnancy.- Chapter 15: Cytokine-Mediated Inflammation in Pre-Term Labor.- Chapter 16: Using Stem Cells to Prevent Inflammation-Induced Pre-Term Labor.