Stem Cells:
Hope or Hype?

by: Mark John Dignos & Emmanuel Joshua Ignacio

Stem cells are the basic materials of the body, generating all other cells with specialized tasks. Daughter cells are formed when stem cells divide under the correct conditions in the body or in the lab. These daughter cells differentiate into new stem cells or specialized cells with a specific function, such as blood cells, brain cells, heart muscle cells, or bone cells (differentiation). No othercell in the body has the ability to produce new cell types naturally.

There are various stem cell sources. First, embryonic stem cells. These stem cells are derived from 3 to 5 day old embryos. Embryonic stem cells can be employed to restore or mend damaged tissue and organs because of their plasticity. Second, adult stem cells. Most adult tissues, such as bone marrow and fat, contain these stem cells in tiny numbers. Adult stem cells, unlike embryonic stem cells, have a restricted potential to give rise to various bodily cells. Bone marrow stem cells, for example, may be able to become bone or heart muscle cells. Third, adult cells that have been modified to resemble embryonic stem cells. Researchers can reprogram adult cells to act like embryonic stem cells by changing the genes in the cells. This innovative approach could allow reprogrammed cells to replace embryonic stem cells while also preventing immunological rejection of the new stem cells.

Animals with heart failure who were given fresh heart cells had better cardiac function and survived longer in experiments. Lastly, perinatal stem cells. Stem cells can also be found in both amniotic fluid and umbilical cord blood. Researchers have discovered stem cells in amniotic fluid samples taken from pregnant women for diagnosis or treatment, a practice known as amniocentesis.

Stem cell treatment, also known as regenerative medicine, involves employing stem cells or their products to stimulate the repair of sick, dysfunctional, or wounded tissue. These stem cells are controlled to differentiate into particular cell types, such as heart muscle cells, blood cells, and nerve cells. For example, these cells might be put into the heart muscle if the person has cardiac problems. Healthy heart muscle cells placed into the wounded heart muscle can potentially help to repair it.

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The application of stem cell transplants, commonly known as bone marrow transplants, have been performed by health professionals. Stem cells are utilized to replace cells that have been damaged by chemotherapy or disease, or to help the donor's immune system fight cancer and blood-related diseases such leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, and multiple myeloma. Adult stem cells are also being tested to treat a variety of ailments, including heart failure and other degenerative disorders.

Due to the fact that human embryonic stem cells are harvested from human embryos, ethical concerns surrounding embryonic stem cell research have arisen. Human stem cell research guidelines were developed by the National Institutes of Health in 2009. The rules specify embryonic stem cells and how they can be utilized in research, as well as making suggestions for embryonic stem cell donation. In addition, the rules stipulate that embryonic stem cells from IVF embryos can only be utilized when the embryo is no longer needed or discarded.

For embryonic stem cells to be effective, researchers must be confident that they will develop into the required cell types. Researchers have identified strategies to instruct stem cells to become certain cell types, such as heart cells from embryonic stem cells. In this area, research is underway. It is also important to note that embryonic stem cells can develop erratically or spontaneously specialize in different cell types. Thus, researchers are looking for methods to control embryonic stem cell growth and differentiation. Embryonic stem cells may also cause an immunological reaction in which the recipient's body assaults the stem cells as foreign invaders, or they may simply fail to operate as predicted, with unclear implications. Researchers are still looking into how to avoid these issues.

REFERENCES:

[1] Augustine, R., Dan, P., Hasan, A., Khalaf, I. M., Prasad, P., Ghosal, K., Gentile, C., McClements, L., & Maureira, P. (2021). Stem cell-based approaches in cardiac tissue engineering: controlling the microenvironment for autologous cells. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 138, 111425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2021.111425

[2] Lovell-Badge, R., Anthony, E., Barker, R. A., Bubela, T., Brivanlou, A. H., Carpenter, M., Charo, R. A., Clark, A., Clayton, E., Cong, Y., Daley, G. Q., Fu, J., Fujita, M., Greenfield, A., Goldman, S. A., Hill, L., Hyun, I., Isasi, R., Kahn, J., . . . Zhai, X. (2021). ISSCR Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation: The 2021 update. Stem Cell Reports, 16(6), 1398–1408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.05.012

[3] Torre, P., & Flores, A. I. (2020). Current Status and Future Prospects of Perinatal Stem Cells. Genes, 12(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes12010006

[4] Wang, A. Y. L. (2021). Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes as a New Therapeutic Strategy for Various Diseases. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(4), 1769. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22041769

IMAGES:

[1] Cossu, G., Birchall, M., Brown, T., de Coppi, P., Culme-Seymour, E., Gibbon, S., Hitchcock, J., Mason, C., Montgomery, J., Morris, S., Muntoni, F., Napier, D., Owji, N., Prasad, A., Round, J., Saprai, P., Stilgoe, J., Thrasher, A., & Wilson, J. (2018). Lancet Commission: Stem cells and regenerative medicine. The Lancet, 391(10123), 883–910. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(17)31366-1

[2] CUSABIO (2021). Stem Cell-What a Miraculous Resource in Human Body. Retrieved from https://www.cusabio.com/c-20944.html?fbclid=IwAR3A9YAErFoOG5vRaeiI04QDu8pptmpoPk_Lp3DnsytXYQSYlumjC3qmN7Y

Stem Cells: Hope or Hype?

Stem Cells:
Hope or Hype?