Role of stem cellls in therapeutics

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ROLE OF STEM CELLS IN THERAPEUTICS

ABSTRACT: All connective tissue cells are progenitors of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). MSCs have been extracted from bone marrow (BM) and other tissues in adults from a variety of vertebrate species, grown in culture, and differentiated into a variety of tissue-forming cells including bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, tendon, liver, kidney, heart, and even brain cells. Recent advancements in the practical end of MSC use toward regeneration of a human-shaped articular condyle of the synovial joint are one example of their functionality and flexibility1. (Alhadlaq,2004)

INTRODUCTION: Even in the twenty-first century, we still lack adequate therapies for numerous diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and others. Stem Cells provide a ray of hope for the treatment of many intractable illnesses. Stem cell research is progressing. How an organism grows from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult animals. This prospective field of study examines the potential of cell-based treatments to cure disease, often known as regenerative or reparative medicine.

STEM CELL: Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells that could develop into specialized cells and divide to generate new stem cells (through mitosis). They have two distinguishing characteristics: the ability to self-generate and the ability to differentiate into cells of multiple types.

CLASSIFICATION OF STEM CELLS:

1.      TOTIPOTENT STEM CELL: Capable of differentiating into any cell types.  For example, zygote, embryonic stem cell and extra embryonic structures such as placenta

2.      PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL: these cells have the ability to develop into almost all type of cell. For example cells originating from the mesoderm, endoderm, or ectoderm , embryonic stem cells and iPSC ( induced pluripotent stem cells)

3.      MULTIPOTENT STEM CELL:  also known as adult stem cell has the capability of differentiating into cell types of limited range. For example, hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells

4.      OLIGOPOTENT STEM CELLS:  Capable of differentiating into few cell types .For example, lymphoid and myeloid stem cells

5.      UNIPOTENT STEM CELLS: have the ability to differentiate into single type of cells but still possess the property of self-renewal. For example adult stem cells such as muscle, epidermis etc.

 

ROLE IN THERAPEUTICS:

The injection of healthy adult stem cells into damaged tissue to treat illness or injury is known as stem cell therapy.  The ability of stem cells to self-renew and give rise to various cells, which might possibly replace sick and damaged regions of the body with low risk of rejection and adverse effects.

Any illness characterized by tissue deterioration may be a candidate for stem cell therapy. Alzheimer's disease (AD) Parkinson disease is a neurological disorder. Injury to the spinal cord cardiovascular disease serious burns, Diabetes etc. can be treated with stem cells

·         THERAPY FOR LEUKEMIA : for the successful treatment of leukemia , all the abnormal leukocytes in patients are removed , if tis not possible then a bone marrow transplant is done where patients bone marrow cells are replaced with a healthy donor

·         THERAPY FOR DIABETES: in this type 1 diabetic patient could start producing their own insulin when injected with their own stem cells drawn from their blood in a suppressed immune state. This eliminated the need to take insulin injections.

·         THERAPY FOR HEART DISEASES: vescell therapy from adult stem cell derived from the patient can create new blood vessels and new tissues in the heart muscles which improves the blood flow to the heart reducing the dependence on nitro tablets. This method is used to treat cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure and artery disease4. (Lee KB,2009)

·         THERAPY IN NERVOUS SYSTEM: we can repair the damages tissues and recover most of the injured areas function by collecting the patient’s bone marrow and re planting it back to the body within a few days after processing in labs. These cells are capable of transforming into multiple types and regenerating the damages tissues. This can be used in spinal cord injuries, CNS disorders etc.

·         TISSUE REPAIR: by using stem cells derived from the patient’s body we can regenerate most tissues  such as spinal tissue , heart tissue and any other major tissue in the body3 (Mummery.2014)

·         RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: eroded cartilage and the damages tissue could be repaired by adult stem cells

·         DRUG TESTING: stem cells could allow quicker and safer development of drugs as scientist could test new drugs by using it on human cell lines.

·         ALZHEIMERS DISEASE: stem cell could help in slowing down the progression by stopping the cells from dying through  genetically modifying it to deliver substances to the brain

 

CONCLUSION: Stem cell treatment has been found as a viable approach for regenerating damaged tissue. Treatments with various sources of stem cells have made tremendous progress, particularly in preclinical studies, in identifying the specific cell source and proliferative potential.

However, several studies have shown that there is no substantial increase in functional ability. This disparity between in vitro and in vivo research; moreover, the effectiveness of cell treatment may lie in the method of stem cell production, the presence of particular stem cell populations, dose, route, frequency, site of cell delivery, and the features of each patient. To prevent mistakes caused by cell handling, some multicenter clinical studies began adopting automated stem cell production techniques2. (Gurusamy.2018)

 

REFERENCES:

 

1.      Adel Alhadlaq and Dr. Jeremy J. Mao.Stem Cells and Development.Aug 2004.436-448.http://doi.org/10.1089/scd.2004.13.436

          Published in Volume: 13 Issue 4: September 29, 2004

 

2.      Narasimman Gurusamy, Abdulrhman Alsayari, Sheeja Rajasingh, Johnson Rajasingh, Chapter One - Adult Stem Cells for Regenerative Therapy

            https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pmbts.2018.07.009

 

3.      Christine Mummery, Anja van de Stolpe, Bernard A.J. Roelen, Hans Clevers,

Chapter 10 - Adult Stem Cells: Generation of Self-Organizing Mini-Organs in dish. 2014

              https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-411551-4.00010-6.

 

4.      Lee KB, Kim DI. Clinical application of stem cells for therapeutic angiogenesis in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Int J Stem Cells. 2009;2(1):11-17. doi:10.15283/ijsc.2009.2.1.11

 

By: Mariam Imran Mansuri

 

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