All Things Stem Cell

Promising cures for blood-related diseases, such as leukemia and lymphoma, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have been heavily researched for decades. However, like many significant findings in science, their discovery was not made in search for such a cure, but stumbled upon while dealing with another serious medical issue of the time: radiation. While trying to treat people exposed to lethal doses of radiation during World War II, transplants from the spleen and bone marrow were found to rescue these victims (Ford et al., 1956). It was not until later that scientists determined that the HSCs present in these tissues were what was restoring the damaged tissues, observed by performing transplants using lethally irradiated mouse and rat models (Becker et al., 1963). HSCs in humans were further characterized and cultured in the 1980s (Morstyn et al., 1980; Sutherland et al., 1989; Sutherland et al., 1990). The formation of the National Marrow Donor Program during this time also greatly improved the availability of these cells for research. Not only have HSCs been successfully used clinically in humans since the 1950s, but to this day they are still one of the few adult stem cells to be tested for clinical uses.

It is now not only better understood how HSCs from a donor animal can save a lethally irradiated recipient animal, but how HSCs can be used in many other medical applications as well. HSCs are able to give rise to all cells in the hematopoietic system, which includes myeloid elements (i.e. red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets) and the lymphatic system (i.e. T-Cells) (Regenerative Medicine, 2006). Because radiation generally targets rapidly dividing cells, including bone marrow cells and cells in the lymphatic system, HSCs have the ability to replenish the supply of cells most damaged by radiation. While HSCs can be collected from adult bone marrow, some fetal tissues (liver, spleen, thymus), umbilical chords, and peripheral blood, in recent years there has been a great shift towards obtaining HSCs mainly from peripheral blood, using a much simpler and less controversial procedure, though achieving a large enough number of HSCs for transplants is still an obstacle to overcome (Stem Cells, 2001). HSCs are now being used to treat cancers of the hematopoietic system (leukemia and lymphomas), replenish cells lost to high-doses of chemotherapy, and fight against autoimmune diseases, in addition to other medical applications (Regenerative Medicine, 2006).

Hematopoietic stem cells give rise to two major progenitor cell lineages, myeloid and lymphoid progenitors (Regenerative Medicine, 2006).

Read more…

admin Hematopoietic Stem Cells adult, clinical trials, hematopoietic, history

The tooth is made up of four primary components: dental pulp, dentin, enamel, and cementum (Cate, 1998)

A relatively recent addition to the stem cell family and holding promise as an easily obtained source of adult stem cells, dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) were discovered at the beginning of this decade (Gronthos et al., 2000). DPSCs, also known as SHED cells (stem cells harvested from exfoliated deciduous teeth (Miura et al., 2003)), are one of the few discovered stem cells available from a naturally molted human tissue.

Dental pulp, which is living tissue at the center of the tooth made up of cells called “odontoblasts,” contains the aptly-named DPSCs. DPSCs were originally identified as being able to produce odontoblast-like cells as well as a tissue similar to dentin, which normally surrounds and protects the dental pulp (Gronthos et al., 2000; 2002). Although these studies found DPSCs able to produce two of the primary components of teeth, pulp and dentin, studies have not reported that DPSCs are able to create the other two factors, which are enamel and cementum (Cate, 1998).

Read more…

admin Dental Pulp Stem Cells adult, history, mesenchymal, neural crest, news, regenerative medicine