Stem Cells
Stem cells are characterized by their ability to self-renew for a prolonged time and still maintain the ability to differentiate along one or more cell lineages. Stem cells may be unipotent, multipotent, or pluripotent, meaning they can differentiate into one, multiple, or all cell types, respectively. Pluripotent stem cells can become cells derived from any of the three embryonic germ layers. Stem cells have the advantage over glial cells because they are able to proliferate more easily in culture. However, it remains difficult to preferentially differentiate these cells into varied cell types in an ordered manner. Another difficulty with stem cells is the lack of a well-defined definition of stem cells beyond hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Each stem cell 'type' has more than one method for identifying, isolating, and expanding the cells; this has caused much confusion because all stem cells of a 'type' (neural, mesenchymal, retinal) do not necessarily behave in the same manner under identical conditions.
Read more about this topic: Nerve Guidance Conduit, Cellular Therapies
Famous quotes containing the words stem and/or cells:
“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)
“The twelve Cells for Incorrigibles ... are also carved out of the solid rock hill. On the walls of one of the cells human “liberty” is clearly inscribed, with the “liberty” in significant quotation marks.”
—Administration in the State of Ariz, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)