scholarly journals Stem Cells - biological update and cell therapy progress

2015 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihai Girlovanu ◽  
Sergiu Susman ◽  
Olga Soritau ◽  
Dan Rus-Ciuca ◽  
Carmen Melincovici ◽  
...  

In recent years, the advances in stem cell research have suggested that the human body may have a higher plasticity than it was originally expected.Until now, four categories of stem cells were isolated and cultured in vivo: embryonic stem cells, fetal stem cells, adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs).Although multiple studies were published, several issues concerning the stem cells are still debated, such as: the molecular mechanisms of differentiation, the methods to prevent teratoma formation or the ethical and religious issues regarding especially the embryonic stem cell research.The direct differentiation of stem cells into specialized cells: cardiac myocytes, neural cells, pancreatic islets cells, may represent an option in treating incurable diseases such as: neurodegenerative diseases, type I diabetes, hematologic or cardiac diseases.Nevertheless, stem cell-based therapies, based on stem cell transplantation, remain mainly at the experimental stages and their major limitation is the development of teratoma and cancer after transplantation. The induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) represent a prime candidate for future cell therapy research because of their significant self-renewal and differentiation potential and the lack of ethical issues.This article presents an overview of the biological advances in the study of stem cells and the current progress made in the field of regenerative medicine.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 5011
Author(s):  
Daehwan Kim ◽  
Sangho Roh

Stem cell research is essential not only for the research and treatment of human diseases, but also for the genetic preservation and improvement of animals. Since embryonic stem cells (ESCs) were established in mice, substantial efforts have been made to establish true ESCs in many species. Although various culture conditions were used to establish ESCs in cattle, the capturing of true bovine ESCs (bESCs) has not been achieved. In this review, the difficulty of establishing bESCs with various culture conditions is described, and the characteristics of proprietary induced pluripotent stem cells and extended pluripotent stem cells are introduced. We conclude with a suggestion of a strategy for establishing true bESCs.


Author(s):  
Anja Trillhaase ◽  
Marlon Maertens ◽  
Zouhair Aherrahrou ◽  
Jeanette Erdmann

AbstractStem cell technology has been around for almost 30 years and in that time has grown into an enormous field. The stem cell technique progressed from the first successful isolation of mammalian embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in the 1990s, to the production of human induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in the early 2000s, to finally culminate in the differentiation of pluripotent cells into highly specialized cell types, such as neurons, endothelial cells (ECs), cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, and lung and intestinal cells, in the last decades. In recent times, we have attained a new height in stem cell research whereby we can produce 3D organoids derived from stem cells that more accurately mimic the in vivo environment. This review summarizes the development of stem cell research in the context of vascular research ranging from differentiation techniques of ECs and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) to the generation of vascularized 3D organoids. Furthermore, the different techniques are critically reviewed, and future applications of current 3D models are reported. Graphical abstract


Author(s):  
Fariha Khaliq

Stem cell therapy is an approach to use cells that have the ability of self-renewal and to differentiate into different types of functional cells that are obtained from embryo and other postnatal sources to treat multiple disorders. These cells can be differentiated into different types of stem cells based on their specific characteristics to be totipotent, unipotent, multipotent or pluripotent. As potential therapy, pluripotent stem cells are considered to be the most interesting as they can be differentiated into different type of cells with similar characteristics as embryonic stem cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are adult cells that are reprogrammed genetically into stem cells from human fibroblasts through expressing genes and transcription factors at different time intervals. In this review, we will discuss the applications of stem cell therapy using iPSCs technology in treating neurodegenerative disorder such that Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). We have also broadly highlighted the significance of pluripotent stem cells in stem cell therapy.


2013 ◽  
Vol 125 (7) ◽  
pp. 319-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Eric Wang ◽  
Xiongwen Chen ◽  
Steven R. Houser ◽  
Chunyu Zeng

Stem cell therapy has emerged as a promising strategy for cardiac and vascular repair. The ultimate goal is to rebuild functional myocardium by transplanting exogenous stem cells or by activating native stem cells to induce endogenous repair. CS/PCs (cardiac stem/progenitor cells) are one type of adult stem cell with the potential to differentiate into cardiac lineages (cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells). iPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells) also have the capacity to differentiate into necessary cells to rebuild injured cardiac tissue. Both types of stem cells have brought promise for cardiac repair. The present review summarizes recent advances in cardiac cell therapy based on these two cell sources and discusses the advantages and limitations of each candidate. We conclude that, although both types of stem cells can be considered for autologous transplantation with promising outcomes in animal models, CS/PCs have advanced more in their clinical application because iPSCs and their derivatives possess inherent obstacles for clinical use. Further studies are needed to move cell therapy forward for the treatment of heart disease.


2016 ◽  
Vol 215 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Zhu ◽  
Aurora Gomez-Duran ◽  
Gabriele Saretzki ◽  
Shibo Jin ◽  
Katarzyna Tilgner ◽  
...  

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) utility is limited by variations in the ability of these cells to undergo lineage-specific differentiation. We have undertaken a transcriptional comparison of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines and hiPSC lines and have shown that hiPSCs are inferior in their ability to undergo neuroectodermal differentiation. Among the differentially expressed candidates between hESCs and hiPSCs, we identified a mitochondrial protein, CHCHD2, whose expression seems to correlate with neuroectodermal differentiation potential of pluripotent stem cells. We provide evidence that hiPSC variability with respect to CHCHD2 expression and differentiation potential is caused by clonal variation during the reprogramming process and that CHCHD2 primes neuroectodermal differentiation of hESCs and hiPSCs by binding and sequestering SMAD4 to the mitochondria, resulting in suppression of the activity of the TGFβ signaling pathway. Using CHCHD2 as a marker for assessing and comparing the hiPSC clonal and/or line differentiation potential provides a tool for large scale differentiation and hiPSC banking studies.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guoqiang Sun ◽  
Chelsea Fu ◽  
Caroline Shen ◽  
Yanhong Shi

Stem cells have provided great hope for the treatment of a variety of human diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying stem cell pluripotency, self-renewal, and differentiation remain to be unveiled. Epigenetic regulators, including histone deacetylases (HDACs), have been shown to coordinate with cell-intrinsic transcription factors and various signaling pathways to regulate stem cell pluripotency, self-renewal, and fate determination. This paper focuses on the role of HDACs in the proliferation and neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells and the application of HDAC inhibitors in reprogramming somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). It promises to be an active area of future research.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document