Wednesday 19 June 2013

Stem cell


An advanced approach in Stem Cell Therapy
Pratikshita Mishra*
Department of Pharmacology
Rajiv Academy for Pharmacy, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Stem cell therapy is emerging as a potentially revolutionary new way to treat disease and injury, with wide-ranging medical benefits. It aims to repair damaged and diseased body-parts with healthy new cells provided by stem cell transplants. Disease and disorders with no therapies or at best, partially effective ones are the lure of the pursuit of stem cell research. Recently a plethora of work has been done in this field in world around including India. However, Stem cell research presents many ethical and scientific questions as well as future challenges. Nevertheless, stem cell therapy, a prologue to an era of medical discovery of cell-based therapies that will one day restore function to those whose lives are now challenged every day, is still at the beginning of the road.

Keywords- Stem cell, adult stem cell, stem cell therapy, embryonal stem cell, pluripotent stem cells.

INTRODUCTION:
Stem cell research has emerged as the most vibrant biological research activity. This is evidently a reflection of the fact that these cells have the capacity of self renewal and the potential to differentiate into one or more cell types depending on the signals in vivo. The applications of such cells clearly go beyond medical imagination, as they can possibly be used in the treatment of diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart disorders, spinal cord injuries or for development of in vitro assay system for drug discovery and toxicity or for understanding basic developmental process.
Patients may have concerns about adverse reactions to the stem cell transplants. The most common reactions to the treatment are fever, headache, leg pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, and allergic reactions. Less than four percent of patients e xperience any of these symptoms.
 
 
Figure  Showing stem cell as a pluripotent cell

Stem cell cultivation
 
Growing cells in the laboratory is known as cell culture. Human embryonic stem cells are isolated by transferring the inner cell mass into a plastic laboratory culture dish that contains a nutrient broth known as culture medium. The cells divide and spread over the surface of the dish. Over the course of several days, the cells of the inner cell mass proliferate and begin to crowd the culture dish. When this occurs, they are removed gently and plated into several fresh culture dishes. Embryonic stem cells that have proliferated in cell culture for six or more months without differentiating, are pluripotent and appear genetically normal are referred to as embryonic stem cell line.

Stem cells and diabetes
Type 1 diabetes appears to be especially difficult to cure, because the cells are destroyed when the body’s own immune system attacks and destroys them. This autoimmunity must be overcome if researchers hope to use transplanted cells to replace damaged ones. The molecular mechanisms of cellular self-renewal must be understood more deeply that can efficiently maintain human stem cell lines in their pluripotent state. In addition, the culture methods should be improved to generate sufficient cells for clinical use. A strong potential for developing differentiated b-like cells from human ESCs, although much more work is needed to realize it.

 
Role of stem cell  in Bioartificial Liver Construction

The liver carries out a range of functions essential for bodily homeostasis. The impairment of liver functions has serious implications and is responsible for high rates of patient morbidity and mortality. Presently, liver transplantation remains the only effective treatment, but donor availability is a major limitation. Therefore, artificial and bioartificial liver devices have been
developed to bridge patients to liver transplantation. Existing support devices improve hepatic encephalopathy to a certain extent; however their usage is associated with side effects. The major hindrance in the development of bioartificial liver devices and cellular
therapies is the limited availability of human hepatocytes.



Induced pluripotent stem cells for retinal degenerative diseases
 
Retinal degenerative diseases, including age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, are the predominant causes of human blindness in the world; however, these diseases are difficult to treat. Currently, knowledge on the mechanisms of these diseases is still very limited and no radical drugs are available. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are an innovative technology that turns somatic cells into embryonic stem (ES)-like cells with pluripotent potential via the exogenous expression of several key genes. It can be used as an unlimited source for cell differentiation or tissue engineering, either of which is a promising therapy for human degenerative diseases. Induced pluripotent cells are both an unlimited source for retinal regeneration and an expectant tool for pharmaprojects and developmental or disease modelling.

Tn the above figure, Illustration of patient-specific iPSC generation and its utility for retinal degenerative disease research and cell replacement therapy.

STEM CELLS FOR TOOTH ENGINEERING
different sources of stem cells that have been used for making teeth in vitro and their relative efficiency. Embryonic, post-natal or even adult stem cells were assessed and proved to possess an enormous regenerative potential, but their application in dental practice is still problematic and limited due to various parameters that are not yet under control such as the high risk of rejection, cell behaviour, long tooth eruption period, appropriate crown morphology and suitable colour. Nevertheless, the development of biological approaches for dental reconstruction using stem cells is promising and remains one of the greatest challenges in the dental field for the years to come.



Epidermal stem cells determination, differentiation and wound healing
The field of epidermal stem cells has dramatically advanced in the last decade, leading to a better understanding of the molecular factors, signalling pathways and cellular events that identify and characterize stem cells, thus revealing their immense potential for therapeutic use. Furthermore, multipotent epidermal stem cells present the major advantage of easy accessibility with the discovery of their specific location within the bulge of the hair follicle.
This review focuses on the most recent findings on epidermal stem cells, and their potential role in initial epidermal commitment, differentiation and wound healing processes in the skin.


DISCUSSION:
Most cells in the body have a specific function in particular organs, such as the liver, skin or brain. Stem cells are relatively undifferentiated and have the ability to develop into different types of cells to exert specialised functions. Among stem cell’s most notable characteristic is its ability to proliferate into a completely new, normal, and even younger cell. As a result, people can use their autologous or allogenic stem cells, or stem cell derived tissues or organs, to replace ill or aging tissues or organs, thus, enabling stem cell research as well as treatments for a wide range of diseases and injuries, many of which cannot be treated with traditional medical methods.


Stem Cell- Indian Perspective
A lost science?
In Adi parva, one of the chapters of Mahabharata, it is said that Kauravas were created from pinda [a ball of flesh] which Gandhari delivered after two years of pregnancy. It was then handed over to the sage Dwapayan, which was then divided into one hundred parts and treated with herbs and ghee. The pieces were then covered with cloth and kept in a chamber to cool for two years; out of which the Kauravas were born.” There cannot be any other explanation for this….. The ancient sages of India must have perfected the art of regenerating entire human beings from cells. In fact Mahabharata clearly describes the various stages of processing pieces of flesh, which is in fact closely comparable to modern techniques of harvesting and processing embryonic stem cells.[sans the sophistication!]. Perhaps stem cell research was altogether a lost science of ancient India

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