Outline

Primer on Stem Cells History

Stem Cell Culture
Introduction to Stem Cells
Sameet Mehta
– A note about culture conditions of the stem cells
sameet@cms.unipune.ernet.in

Center for Modeling and Simulation, University of Pune, Pune Uses of stem cells
Controversies/Problems
June 10, 2008
Other Resourcess

Stem Cell - Etymology History

Origins of the term some interesting facts about stem cells

First human stem cells obtained over 20 years ago

The stem of the ‘stem-cell’ is inspired from the ‘Meristematic I 1954 – John Enders received the Nobel
Tissue’ of the plants prize for use of embryonic kidney stem
cells to grow Polio Virus
I 1998 – First human cell lines are
developed from the Inner Cell Mass
I 1998 – Embryonic germ cells (from
gonadal tissues) were derived and a cell
line was established.
Introduction to Stem Cells What are stem cells

Stem Cells
I Ability to self renew Stem cells are cells that have ability to renew themselves, and
I Ability to differentiate to differentiate into diverse cell types (Wikipedia).
I Totipotency “Stem Cells” is a broad term and refers to many types of cells.
I Pleuripotency
I Multipotency Note
One of the most interesting characteristics of the stems cells is
their ability of long-term self-renewal

Types of Stem cells Definitions I

The type of the stem cell is defined by its origin Some important terms in context

I Embryonic Stem Cells – Cell originating from the inner cell
mass of the blastocyst are termed as the embryonic stem
cells
I Adult Stem cells
Progenitor Cells These are present in the adult tissues.
These are like ’reserve’ cells used in repairing
the adult tissue in case of minor injuries.
Hematopoetic Stem Cells Forms all sorts of blood cells
(but virutally no other cell type)
Totipotency
Total potential. A single cell can regenerate entire organism.
This is a particular hallmark of the meristematic tissues in the
plants. True totipotency is almost never seen in higher
eukaryotes
Multipotency
A single cell can differentiate into potentially all types of cell
types of a particular lineage, but not all possible cell types of
given organism
Pluripotency
A single cell can potentially differentiate into all possible cell
types in a given organism, but cannot create/re-construct an
entire individual
 Schema for Stem culture (Embryonic)

Schema for Stem culture (Adult) Culture Requirements

Bone Marrow Stem Cells (BMSC)

I cells are extremely delicate

I cells are highly fastidious
I cells have very specific requirements about media and
other growth factors
I cells tend to differentiate (uncontrollably) in absence of
specific requirements and in presence of sera
I cells may loose their ability to differentiate
Uses of stem cells Differences in Uses
most common uses of stem cells in the field of medicine Therapeutic Cloning Vs. Regenerative Medicine

I Theraputic cloning
I Agents in regenerative medicine

Probable Action of Stem Cells The Other Side

Some Controversial Issues

I Unused embryos are used for ES culture

I There could be ethical and/or moral issues

This is postulated method illustrating action of the stem cells

The Other Side
Common Misconceptions about Stem cells
I Stem cell therapy is not fool-proof
I ES cells can go bad (EC cells)
I Stem cell therapy is still very much in its infancy
I By definition ES cells have a short life span on account of
previous population doublings
I Cord-Blood Cells and Embryonic Stem cells are not the
same
Questions?
Other Resourcess
More information about the subject
I http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/
The University of Wisconsin’s Web site about stem cells,
written for general audiences.
I http://www.eurekalert.org
EurekAlert! is a publicly accessible science news site run
by the American Association for the Advancement of
Sciences. Search for ”stem cells.”
I http://scitechdaily.com/
A site that offers a range of news articles, features, and
commentaries about science and technology topics.
Search for ”stem cells.”
I http://www.sciam.com/
The Web site for Scientific American. Search for ”stem
cells.”
I http://www.stemcellresearchnews.com/
A commercial, online newsletter that features stories about
stem cells of all types
Thank You
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