EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS

CHARACTERISTICS AND APPLICATIONS

CONTENTS
Contents............................................................................................................1

Introduction.......................................................................................................2 Stem Cells.........................................................................................................3 Embryonic Stem Cells.........................................................................................3 Derivation of Human ES......................................................................................3 Applications.......................................................................................................3 Clinical Research................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
It is 20 years since murine embryonic stem (ES) cells were first described when they were isolated and grown in vitro. In vitro studies have shown that murine ES cells can be propagated indefinitely in an undifferentiated state but have the capacity, when provided with the appropriate signals, to differentiate, presumably via the formation of precursor cells, to almost all mature cell phenotypes. If the pluripotent differentiation potential of murine ES cells could be harnessed in vitro, it might be a means of deriving cell or tissue types virtually to order. If human ES cells responded in a similar fashion, this would provide a radical new approach to the treatment of a wide variety of conditions where age, disease or trauma has led to tissue damage or dysfunction. Human ES cells were eventually derived in 1998 (Thomson et al. 1998; Reubinoff et al. 2000), finally making regenerative medicine and tissue engineering a real possibility for the future treatment of human disease.

STEM CELLS
A stem cell is generally defined by considering two properties, the capacity for long-term self-renewal without senescence and pluripotency, the ability to differentiate into one or more specialized cell types. Totipotent stem cells, which have an ability to generate all tissue types, play a critical role in human development, providing the raw material for the development of all tissues and organs in the embryo and all the extra-embryonic tissues. These cells could therefore provide a theoretically inexhaustible supply of cells for transplantation. However, tissue-specific stem cells are also deposited in various niches throughout the body, such as bone marrow, brain, liver and skin, as a mechanism for tissue maintenance, growth and repair in later life (Lavker & Sun 2000; Uchida et al. 2000; Vessey & de la Hall 2001; Wagers et al. 2002). Originally, these cells, sometimes referred to paradoxically as adult stem cells, were considered to have only multilineage potential, but it is now known that they can show a considerable degree of plasticity. Thus, in theory, these cells could be harvested from a patient, incorporated into a tissue construct, and put back into the same individual when repair becomes necessary, bypassing the need for immunosuppression.

EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst stage embryos.These cells

MURINE ES HUMAN ES

DERIVATION

OF

HUMAN ES

APPLICATIONS
TREATMENT
OF

MAJOR DISEASES

TYPE 1 DIABETES IN CHILDREN . NERVOUS SYSTEM DISEASES . PRIMARY IMMUNODEFICIENCY DISEASES DISEASES OF BONE AND CARTILAGE . CANCER

CLINICAL RESEARCH
HUMAN DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY .

MODELS OF HUMAN DISEASE TRANSPLANTATION GENE THERAPY