Stem cells

By Sheena Scroggins
Biological Foundations
http://yorkstudentrn.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/stem_cell1.jpg
 What are stem cells?

• Stem cells are cells that can

proliferate or self-renew into
many different types of
specialized cells.

http://www.jforsythe.com/jforsytheblog/content/binary/embryonic_stem_cell_chart.gif
 Different types of stem cells

• A stem cell's potency is its ability to become

to other cells in the body. These include:

• Totipotent stem cells: can differentiate into

any type of cell in the human body, including
the placenta.

• Pluripotent stem cells: they descend from

totipotent stem cells and after several days,
can differentiate into any type of cell except
for totipotent stem cells.

• Multipotent stem cells: these descend from

pluripotent stem cells and can differentiate
into many cell lines within a specific type of
tissue.

• Unipotent stem cells: this type of stem cells

is a descendant of a multipotent stem cell and
can give rise to a single cell type.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stem_cells_diagram.png
 Key Achievements in Stem Cell Research

1981 - Mouse embryonic stem cells are derived from the inner cell mass

1992 - Neural stem cells are cultured in vitro as neurospheres.

1997 - Leukemia is shown to originate from a haematopoietic stem cell, the first direct evidence for cancer
stem cells.

1998 - First human embryonic stem cell line derived.

2000s - Several reports of adult stem cell plasticity are published.

2001 - Scientists clone first early (four- to six-cell stage) human embryos for the purpose of generating
embryonic stem cells..

October 2006 - Scientists create the first ever artificial liver cells using umbilical cord blood stem cells

January 2007 - Scientists report discovery of a new type of stem cell in amniotic fluid

June 2007 - Research reported by three different groups shows that normal skin cells can be reprogrammed
to an embryonic state in mice.

June 2007 Scientist reports the first successful creation of a primate stem cell line through somatic cell
nuclear transfer .
 Key Achievements Continued

October 2007 - Mario Capecchi, Martin Evans, and Oliver Smithies win the 2007 Nobel Prize for
Physiology or Medicine for their work on embryonic stem cells from mice using gene targeting strategies
producing genetically engineered mice for gene research.

November 2007 - Human induced pluripotent stem cells are created, making it possible now to produce a
stem cell from almost any other human cell instead of using embryos as needed previously, albeit the risk
of tumorigenesis due to c-myc and retroviral gene transfer remains to be determined.

January 2008 - Scientists create the first human embryonic stem cells without destruction of the embryo

January 2008 - Development of human cloned blastocysts following somatic cell nuclear transfer with adult
fibroblasts

February 2008 - Generation of pluripotent stem cells from adult mouse liver and stomach.

March 2008-The first published study of successful cartilage regeneration in the human knee using
autologous adult mesenchymal stem cells is published.

October 2008 – Generation of pluripotent stem cells from spermatogonial cells of adult human testis by
culturing the cells in vitro under leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) supplementation.

October 2008 - Embryonic-like stem cells from a single human hair.

 Key Achievements Continued

March 2009 - Scientists discover a way to produce embryonic-like stem cells from normal adult cells by
using a novel "wrapping" procedure to deliver specific genes to adult cells to reprogram them into stem
cells without the risks of using a virus to make the change.

March 2009 Scientists find a way to improve chemotherapy of mouse muscle stem cells.

May 2009 Scientists announced that they had devised a way to manipulate skin cells to create patient
specific "induced pluripotent stem cells" (iPS), claiming it to be the 'ultimate stem cell solution'.
 Current Stem Cell Treatments

Stem cells are currently being used in a few different

therapies. These include:
• Parkinson's disease
• Type I diabetes
• Arthritis
• Burn victims
• Cardiovascular diseases
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 Problems with Stem Cell Therapy

• Passing on Viruses- A possible concern is

that stem cell therapy could pass on viruses
or other microscopic agents that cause
disease. Patients who are receiving
transplants often take strong drugs that
essentially 'wipe out' their immune system.
This is to reduce the chances of their body
rejecting a transplant. The flip side is that if
any viruses are present in the transplanted
stem cells, a patient's immune system is
completely vulnerable to disease.

: www.topnews.in/healthcare/general/featured?page=4
 More Problems

Diseases From Other Animals- Animal sources may be used to provide nutrients to stem cells
that are being cultivated in the laboratory. These sources could contain various diseases that
may then be passed on to humans receiving cell-based therapies. A concern is that screening is
currently insufficient to detect known diseases that may be present. Also, there may be
diseases we are still yet unaware of that could be passed on to humans.

susty.com/swine-flu-roundup-spring-2009/
 More Problems

Uncontrolled Growth- One concern with

embryonic stem cells is related to the very
quality that makes them so useful and
versatile. Embryonic stem cells are 'young'
cells and tend to grow quickly; the fast
growth must, however, be carefully guided
by scientists. These stem cells need to be
cultivated and directed into specialized cells
with great care because the potential for
remaining stem cells to grow uncontrolled
could be disastrous. These uncontrolled
cells could eventually form tumors.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/cure-for-cancer-virus1.htm
 More Problems
• Misdirected Growth- The possibility of transplanted stem cells differentiating into the
wrong type of tissue is yet another concern regarding therapeutic stem cell use. Once stem
cells are cultivated in a laboratory, researchers need to control and direct their growth into
desired tissue cells. Scientists are attempting to overcome this problem by inducing partial
stem cell differentiation prior to transplanting it into a patient. This would hopefully limit
the capacity of the cells to differentiate into undesired tissue types once implanted. At
present, scientists still know very little about how stem cell differentiation is controlled

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/image_galleries/skinterface_fact_gallery.shtml
http://www.stemcelltherapy21.com/stemcelltherapy21/stemcells/stem_cell_therapy.html
 References

http://www.explorestemcells.co.uk/StemCellsFacts.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell -Key achievements

http://yorkstudentrn.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/stem_cell1.jpg

http://www.jforsythe.com/jforsytheblog/content/binary/embryonic_stem_cell_chart.gif

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stem_cells_diagram.png

http://stemcells.nih.gov/staticresources/info/media/DSC_1185.jpg

http://www.stemcelltherapy21.com/stemcelltherapy21/stemcells/stem_cell_therapy.html