The essential principles of stem cell science
Mary L. Clarke, Jonathan Frampton in Stem Cells, 2020
In this chapter, the authors define what constitutes a stem cell, while making clear where there can be misunderstanding or confusion that leads to some non-stem cells being misrepresented. They distinguishes the basic stem cell types and how they are characterized, focusing on the sorts of experimental approaches employed, many of which have been specifically developed for the purpose of investigating these cells. Understanding the mechanisms of self-renewal and the process by which a cell can become committed is at the heart of stem cell science and occupies the efforts of a very large proportion of the stem cell research community. The understanding of stem cell biology promises a whole range of new approaches to the understanding and treatment of disease, both in humans and other animals. Stem cell science is also set to deliver a variety of economically important benefits, including improvements in crops and livestock.
Myths and Facts About Blood and Stem Cells
Tariq I Mughal, John M Goldman, Sabena T Mughal in Understanding Leukemias, Lymphomas, and Myelomas, 2017
This chapter discusses some of the important immunological treatments, and the role of the immune response for the success of stem cell transplantation in many different forms of cancer. The progression from hematopoietic stem cell to the release of the mature red blood cell, white blood cell, or platelet into the bloodstream takes about 10 to 14 days. The common pluripotent stem cell in the bone marrow has the capacity to replicate, proliferate, and differentiate to increasingly specialized progenitor cells, which, after many cell divisions within the marrow, form mature red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Stem cell transplant animal models, using genetically marked bone marrow, showed that the donor cells can migrate into areas of damaged muscle, differentiate into muscle-progenitor cells, and help in repair and regeneration of the damaged muscles. A common lymphoid stem cell undergoes differentiation and proliferation to give rise to two different types of lymphocytes, B cells and T cells.
Stem Cells And Connective Tissues
Miroslav Holub in Immunology of Nude Mice, 2020
One of the few possibilities to establish unequivocally the basic defect of the nu mutation is the analysis of the mesenchymal activity as reflected by the bone marrow stem cell potential. Of course, a reduced stem cell potential in the adult nude mouse may also be caused by a lack of thymic factors. Although the basic defects of the mouse mutant nude suggest some consequences in the cellular and extracellular components of connective tissues, the model remains almost unnoticed beyond the immunological boundaries. The mast cell reflects the intensity of glycosoaminoglycan metabolism and connective tissue neoformation. With the exception of mucosal mast cells, the mast cell system seems to be one of the sufficient and adequate mesenchymal cell systems in the athymic nude mouse which served in the last decade as an unequivocal disproof of the story on the thymic origin of mast cells.
Role of Stem Cells in the Pathogenesis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Pulmonary Emphysema
Published in COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, 2018
Irene Coppolino, Paolo Ruggeri, Francesco Nucera, Mario Francesco Cannavò, Ian Adcock, Giuseppe Girbino, Gaetano Caramori
There are only few human translational studies performed in the area of stem cell research in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and/or pulmonary emphysema. Before progress to clinical trials with stem cells we strongly believe that more human translational studies are essential, otherwise, the clinical rationale would be solely based on limited in vitro and animal studies. In the future, stem cell therapy could be a treatment for this incurable disease. As of now, stem cell therapy is still to be considered as an area of active research, lacking any strong rationale for performing clinical trials in COPD. Although stem cells would be likely to represent a heterogeneous population of cells, the different cell subsets and their importance in the pathogenesis of the different clinical phenotypes need to be fully characterised before progressing to clinical trials. Moreover, the potential side effects of stem cell therapy are underestimated. We should not ignore that some of the most deadly neoplasms are arising from stem cells.
Advances in stem cell therapy for male stress urinary incontinence
Published in Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, 2019
Fabrizio Gallo, Gaetano Ninotta, Maurizio Schenone, Pierluigi Cortese, Claudio Giberti
Introduction: Among the several options that have been proposed in recent years for the management of male stress urinary incontinence (SUI), stem cell therapy represents a new frontier in treatment. The aim of this paper is to update the current status of stem cell therapy in animal and human studies for the management of iatrogenic male SUI. Areas covered: A literature review was conducted based on MEDLINE/PubMed searches for English articles using a combination of the following keywords: stem cell therapy, urinary incontinence, prostatectomy, regenerative medicine, mesenchymal stem cells. Expert opinion: The few studies reported in the literature have demonstrated short-term safety and promising results of stem cell therapy in treating male SUI. However, many aspects need to be clarified before stem cell therapy can be introduced into daily urologic practice. In fact, important issues such as the limitations of these studies in terms of small sample sizes and short follow-ups, the incomplete knowledge of the mechanism of action of stem cells, the technical details regarding the delivery method and the best sources of stem cells, the safety risks regarding genomic or epigenetic changes and potential immune reactions in the longer term need to be identified in more stringent clinical trials.
Limbal Epithelial and Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Corneal Regeneration
Published in Current Eye Research, 2020
Sachin Shukla, Swapna S Shanbhag, Fatemeh Tavakkoli, Shobhit Varma, Vivek Singh, Sayan Basu
Corneal pathologies are a major cause of blindness and visual impairment, especially in the developing world. However, not only is there a global shortage of donor corneal tissue, but a significant proportion of these blinding pathologies also carry an unfavourable long-term prognosis for conventional corneal transplantation. In the last few decades, there has been a spurt of research on developing alternate approaches to address corneal blindness, including stem cell therapy. After the discovery of epithelial stem cells at the limbus, successful cell-based approaches to treat severe ocular surface disease were developed and have subsequently become widely practised across the world. More recently, mesenchymal stem cells were identified near the epithelial stem cells at the limbus, providing a unique opportunity to develop regenerative therapies for both corneal epithelial and stromal pathologies. This review firstly emphasises on qualifying limbal stem cells as either epithelial or mesenchymal and then summarises all the existing knowledge on both cell types and their individual roles in corneal regeneration. The review describes the history, indications, techniques, and outcomes of the different methods of limbal epithelial stem cell transplantation and elaborates on the potential applications of limbal mesenchymal stem cell therapy.
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