Abstract:

Wang Zhiqin, Peng Xuebiao Department of Dermatology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China Corresponding author: Peng Xuebiao, Email: pengxuebiao@126.com 【Abstract】 Systemic lupus erythematosus （SLE） is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by multi-organ and multisystemic involvement and various clinical manifestations. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells （BM-MSCs）, a kind of non-hematopoietic stem cells originating from the mesoderm, are key components of hematopoietic microenvironment. Recent studies have indicated that SLE is a disorder of stem cells. Both hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells （MSCs） are abnormal in SLE, which mainly manifests as changes of biological characteristics, abnormal cytoskeleton and ultrastructure, shortened telomeres, increased telomerase and SA-β-Gal acitivity, decreased differentiative ability, aberrant immunoregulatory effect, and other features of senescence. The mechanism of MSC aging may be related to up-regulated expressions of aging-related genes p53/p21cip1, p16INK4a/Rb and p27kip1/pTEN, elevated levels of reactive oxygen species （ROS), endoplasmic reticulum stress, epigenetic alterations, etc.