Adult Stem Cells as Regenerative Medicine
Kanika Varma1, Parul Rewari1, Jayanti Tokas1, Rubina Begum1, Shalini Jain2 and Hariom Yadav2
1Department of Biotechnology, JMIT, Radaur, Haryana, India
2NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Email: [email protected]
Adult Stem Cell
Undifferentiated Cells Found throughout the body after embryonic
development Multiply by cell division to replenish dying
cells Regenerate Damaged Tissues.
Types of Adult Stem Cells
Hematopoietic Mammary Mesenchymal Neural
Endothelial Olfactory Neural crest Testicular
Properties
Defining properties- self-renewal & potency Lineage Signaling pathways Multidrug resistance Plasticity / Transdifferentiation
Location of Adult Stem Cell Identified in many organs and tissues -
Brain, Bone marrow , Peripheral blood, Blood vessels, Skeletal muscle, Skin, Teeth, Heart, Gut, Liver, Ovarian epithelium and Testis
Thought to reside in a specific area of each tissue - a ‘stem cell niche’
Plasticity
Basis for generating tissue for transplantation
Differentiate into cell types in organs / tissues other than those expected from the cells predicted lineage
Stem Cells in the Bone Marrow and Blood
Three types of stem cell originate in bone marrow:
1. Hematopoietic Stem Cell
2. Stromal Cells
3. Endothelial Progenitor Cells
In Other Tissues
Endothelial Progenitor Cells Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells
Epithelial Cell Precursors in the Skin and Digestive System
Stem Cells in the Pancreas and Liver
Hematopoietic and Stromal Adult Stem Cell Differentiation
stemcells.nih.gov/.../images/figure2_lg.jpg
Adult Stem Cell Therapies
The therapies require a stem cell source of the specific lineage and harvesting or culturing them up to the numbers required is a challenge.
Regenerative Medicine
Process of creating living, functional tissues to repair or replace tissue or organ function lost due to age, disease, damage, or congenital defects
It helps to produce extended healthy longevity,
Potential of Adult Stem Cells
Treating Leukemia
Leukemia results when white blood cells made in bone marrow begin to grow and function abnormally
One way to do this is through chemotherapy
When chemotherapy cannot solve the problem, doctors turn to bone marrow transplants.
Another Stem Cell Victory - Parkinson's Disease
A degenerative disorder of the central nervous system
Sufferers lack a sufficient amount of a brain chemical called dopamine
The cure of this disease is to multiply cells that release dopamine
Insulin Independence
There is insulin independence for Type 1 diabetes patients
A study showed patients receiving injections with adult stem cells were able to go as long as four years without having to rely on insulin shots.
Heeling of Heart by Adult Stem Cells Cardiologists and heart
surgeons worldwide currently use VesCell™ adult stem cell therapy to treat patients suffering from coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, and congestive heart failure.
Process of stem cells for spinal cord injury
Bone Marrow taken from the hip 6 weeks of cultivating the adult stem cells to increase total to 100 million.
Adult Stem Cells injected at injury site (C3-C4) in a surgical procedure
Thalesemia
The genetic defect results in reduced rate of synthesis of one of the globin chains that make up hemoglobin
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative approach
Curing cancer
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are cancer cells (found within tumors or hematological cancers) that possess characteristics associated with normal stem cells, specifically the ability to give rise to all cell types found in a particular cancer sample
Lisa Ray to undergo stem cell transplant for blood cancer
Benefits of Adult Stem Cell Research
Easy to obtain Potentially limitless in supply Patients can use their own stem cells for
treatment and therapy Adult stem cells are politically neutral Not offensive to any major interest group nor
do they generate controversy.
Limitations of adult stem cell The isolation of some types of ASC, for example
the isolation of neural cells from a patient's brain, would be impractical
Where a person suffers from a genetic disorder or some types of cancers, ASC isolated from that individual will retain the damaging genetic alterations underlying the disease and so be of little therapeutic value
Unambiguous identification is difficult Maintenance in culture is difficult
Conclusion
Adult stem cell research is complicated and rapidly changing .Today’s medicine generally
tries to support or treat injured tissues and organs, but stem cells may someday simply
replace them.