Cell Therapies Derived From Adult Stem Cells
Adult stem cells are multipotent cells committed to specific lineages. They can replenish dying cells and damaged tissues by multiplying through cell division and differentiating into a subset of cell types specific to its lineage. As such, they hold vast regenerative and therapeutic potential. Furthermore, their use in cell therapy is less controversial as they can be harvested from various sources in humans whereas the use of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) often entails destruction of human embryos. Thus, recent efforts are focused on efficient expansion and differentiation of adult stem cells for clinical purposes. Notably, there have been significant advancements in clinical applications of neural, mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells. Further recent advances have highlighted a population of small (1-2 micron diameter) stem cells present in adult blood and tissue. Variously termed 'blastomere-like stem cells' and 'very-small embryonic stem cells', these novel entities express OCT4, nanog, SSEA-1, CEACAM and present an exciting new therapeutic avenue.
Read more about this topic: Cell Therapy
Famous quotes containing the words cell, derived, adult, stem and/or cells:
“I turn and turn in my cell like a fly that doesn’t know where to die.”
—Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937)
“Jesus wept; Voltaire smiled. From that divine tear and from that human smile is derived the grace of present civilization.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“[Children] do not yet lie to themselves and therefore have not entered upon that important tacit agreement which marks admission into the adult world, to wit, that I will respect your lies if you will agree to let mine alone. That unwritten contract is one of the clear dividing lines between the world of childhood and the world of adulthood.”
—Leontine Young (20th century)
“All things seem mention of themselves
And the names which stem from them branch out to other referents.
Hugely, spring exists again.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“If I’d written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people—including me—would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.”
—Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939)