Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their derived products have significant potential for new medical treatments.
Surely you've heard of mesenchymal stem cells in the news, and perhaps you have asked if we could help you or a loved one with a serious illness.
You might ask, what are stem cells, if it is real or myth about their roles, how they are used to treat diseases and injuries, and why they're the subject of a debate so vigorous.
Currently, medicine is transitioning from the use of drugs to biological products, primarily of autologous origin, for the treatment of many degenerative diseases.
Here you will find some answers to the most frequently asked questions on stem cells, through this article written by Dr. Matias Fernandez Vina, an expert in Regenerative Medicine and Advanced Therapies.
What are stem cells?
Stem cells are the raw material of the body; since they generate all other cells with specialized functions.
Under the right conditions in the body or in a laboratory, stem cells divide to form more cells called daughter cells. These daughter cells become new stem cells (self-renewal) or in specialized cells (differentiation) with a more specific role, such as blood cells, brain cells, heart muscle cells, bone cells or colony-forming cartilage. No other cell in the body has the natural ability to generate new cell types.
Why is there so much interest in mesenchymal stem cells?
Researchers and doctors hope that the studies with stem cells can help to:Increase understanding of how they occur diseases. To observe the maturation of stem cells into cells in bones, heart muscle, nerves, and other organs and tissue, researchers and doctors may better understand how to develop diseases and conditions.
Generate healthy cells to replace diseased cells (regenerative medicine). Stem cells can be oriented to becoming specific cells that can be used to regenerate and repair diseased or damaged tissue in humans. The people who could benefit from stem cell therapies include those with:
- – Degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, ankles, shoulders.
- – Muscle Tears
- – Tendinopatias
- – Ischemia of the lower limbs
- – Diabetic ulcers
- – spinal cord injury
- – type 1 and 2 diabetes
- – Parkinson's disease
- – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- – Alzheimer's disease
- – heart disease,
- – stroke,
- – burns
- – autoimmune diseases.
The stem cells may have the potential to grow up to become new tissue for use in transplant and regenerative medicine.
The researchers are continuing to expand our knowledge about stem cells and their applications in regenerative medicine and transplantation.
Where does it come from stem cells?
Researchers have discovered several sources of stem cells:
– Embryonic stem cells.
These stem cells come from embryos that are three to five days of life. At this stage, an embryo is called a blastocyst and has about 150 cells.These cells are pluripotent stem cells, meaning they can divide into more stem cells or can become any type of cell in the body.These cells are used only for experiments, and are not accepted ethically to be used in people.
– Adult stem cells.
These stem cells are found in small numbers in most adult tissues, such as bone marrow or fat. In comparison with embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells have a capacity to treat many degenerative diseases.
Until recently, researchers thought adult stem cells could only create similar cell types. For example, researchers thought that stem cells reside in the bone marrow could generate only blood cells.However, emerging evidence suggests that adult stem cells can create different types of cells by which they are called mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). For example, the stem cells of the bone marrow may create bone cells or heart muscle.This research has led to the conduct of clinical trials early to test the utility and safety in people. For example, are currently being tested adult stem cells in people with neurological diseases or heart.
Why there is controversy regarding the use of embryonic stem cells?
Embryonic stem cells are obtained from embryos in the early stage, a group of cells that form when a woman's egg is fertilized with the sperm of a man in a clinical in vitro fertilization. Because human embryonic stem cells are extracted from human embryos, have raised a number of questions and issues about the ethics of embryonic stem cell research.The National Institutes of Health (National Institutes of Health created guidelines for research with human stem cells in 2009. The guidelines define embryonic stem cells and how they can be used in research, and include recommendations for the donation of embryonic stem cells. In addition, the guidelines state that the embryonic stem cells from embryos created by in vitro fertilization can be used only when the embryo is no longer necessary.Where do they come from these embryos?The embryos used in the research of embryonic stem cells come from eggs that were fertilized in in vitro fertilization clinics but were never implanted in the uterus of a woman. The stem cells are donated with informed consent of the donors. Stem cells can live and grow in special solutions in test tubes or Petri dishes in laboratories.
Why the researchers may not use adult stem cells?
Although the research on adult stem cells is promising, adult stem cells may not be as versatile and durable as embryonic stem cells. It is possible that the adult stem cells are not able to be manipulated to produce all types of cells, which limits the ways that adult stem cells can be used to treat diseases.Adult stem cells are also more likely to have alterations due to environmental hazards, such as toxins, or for any errors acquired by the cells during replication. However, researchers have discovered that adult stem cells are more adaptable than we thought at the beginning.
What are the lines of stem cells and why the researchers want to use them?
A stem cell line is a group of cells from a single stem cell original, and is grown in a laboratory. Cells of a line of stem cells continue to grow, but do not differentiate into specialized cells. Ideally, remain free of genetic defects and continue to create more stem cells. You can take groups of cells of a line of stem cells, and frozen for storage or share them with other researchers.
What is stem cell therapy (regenerative medicine) and how does it work?
Stem cell therapy, also known as regenerative medicine, promotes the repair of diseased tissues, dysfunctional, or injured using stem cells or their derivatives. Is the next chapter in organ transplantation and uses cells instead of donor organs, whose supply is limited.Researchers grow stem cells in a laboratory. These stem cells are manipulated to specialize into specific types of cells, such as heart muscle cells, blood cells or nerve cells.The specialized cells can then be implanted into a person. For example, if the person has heart disease, the cells could be injected into the heart muscle. The healthy cells of the heart muscle transplanted could then help to repair the heart muscle defective.The researchers have already demonstrated that adult cells of bone marrow guided to become-like cells in the heart can repair heart tissue in people, and there is more research in progress.
Do you already used stem cells to treat diseases?
Yes. The doctors have performed stem cell transplants, also known as a bone marrow transplant. In these transplants, stem cells replace cells damaged by chemotherapy or disease or serve as a way in which the donor's immune system fights certain types of cancer and blood-related diseases, such as leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma and multiple myeloma. These transplants use adult stem cells or umbilical cord blood.
