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: yadavhariom@gmail.com

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.