Techniqual features
Why do we choose adult stem cells?
Adult stem cells are stem cells that can be derived from different parts of the body and, depending on where they are from, have different properties. They exist in several different tissues including bone marrow, blood and the brain. Adult Stem Cells we choose have many advantages as follows:
- Have been safely used in humans for over 30 years
- No danger of immune system rejection with cells from the patient's own body
- Extremely low risk of tumor growth.
- Easier to control than embryonic cells
- No significant ethical issues
What kind of adult stem cell do we use?
Mesenchymal stem cells Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are adult stem cells traditionally found in the bone marrow. However, mesenchymal stem cells can also be isolated from other tissues including cord blood, peripheral blood, fallopian tube, and fetal liver and lung. Multipotent stem cells, MSCs differentiate to form adipocytes, cartilage, bone, tendons, muscle, and skin.
Unlike most other human adult stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells can be obtained in quantities appropriate for clinical applications, making them good candidates for use in tissue repair. Techniques for isolation and amplification of mesenchymal stem cells in culture have been established and the cells can be maintained and propagated in culture for long periods of time, without loosing their capacity to form all the above cell types.
Furthermore, mesenchymal stem cells can take up and keep introduced genes, a phenomenon that could be exploited for the delivery of beneficial molecules to targeted locations.
Mesenchymal stem cells can also be frozen to preserve them, and when they are thawed they function apparently normally, thus allowing for future "off-the-shelf" therapy approaches. Animal trials looking at reconstitution of damaged tissues such as cartilage, bone, muscle, heart muscle and tendon using mesenchymal stem cells have shown great promises for human applications.
Perhaps one of the important considerations for human applications is that mesenchymal stem cells can be derived from a small bone marrow sample from a given patient, expanded in culture, and given back to the patient. This would avoid the problems associated with immune rejection of foreign transplanted cells or tissues. Clinical trials are currently underway in several clinical centers, to assess safety and effectiveness of these techniques in humans.
