Cord Blood Stem Cells Information

Adult Stem Cell and Embryonic Stem Cells.?

Okay, can somebody tell me if I am correct? Adult stem cells are cells found in any human being. They can be found in various tissues. When cloning these cells, you can only replicated it to be the same cell. So, if it was a skin cell, it could only turn into another skin cell. Sometimes a body doesn't accept these cloned cells, though. Alright, and then the embryonic cells. they are an embryo that is taken from a mother's womb. They can be used with any sort of tissue, and will be a custom fit with any body. Am I right? If not, somebody please explain the difference. Also, why would somebody use an adult cell over the embryonic cell, and vice versa? How do the embryonic cells fight diseases? your answers are greatly appreciated.

Public Comments

1. I don't think that adult stem cells are destined to be the same kind of cell as the tissue of origin. Here's why. A doctor in Portugal takes stem cells from the nasal mucosa and transplants them into injured spinal cords. The hope is that the stem cells will become nerve cells to repair the spinal cord injury. It wouldn't make sense if they expected the cells to make more nasal mucosa (sinus lining) cells, only in the spinal cord. I know this happens because my youngest son is a candidate for this program and is hoping to have some improvement in his quadriplegia. The "adult stem cell" has the advantage of coming from the person's own body and not having the same expectation of being rejected. How can stem cells fight diseases? If the person in question has a disease caused by faulty cells of his own -- the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin, for instance -- then the stem cells may become pancreatic cells that make insulin.
2. you are slightly right. adult cells are generally not referred to as stem cells. stem cells have the ability to differentiate to various purposes. generally, adult cells have already decided what they want to become. however, it's been found that bone marrow cells can be coaxed into different forms, although not as easily as embryonic stem cells. embryonic stem cells is the name given to fetal cells. normally they'd try to become a fetus. however, IVF procedures currently in use create many extra such, most of which are discarded. they fight diseases because they can be coaxed to grow into any part of a body. they are unique in that respect. they will not "custom fit" with any body. typically your immune system will recognize them as foreign, and reject them. there are, however, immune suppression drugs that will suppress the rejection reaction.
3. Ok, This is my field of graduate study so it is hard for me to not spend four hours explaining every detail The difference in stem cells isn't between adult and embryonic. It is between -potency Totipotent = can become a blastocyst and every type of cell (very early embryo 3-4 cell divisions) Pluriopotent = the stem cell that is highly studied, can become any tissue except a blastocyst Multipotent can become many types of cells but not all and not a blastocyst Unipotent - can become one type of cell IE skin cells Adult stem cells where important because of the laws prohibiting the collection of embryonic stem cells. So instead of throwing away the idea of using stem cells (even if just adult) they decided to try and study how adult stem cells work IE skin cells in order to help cure diseases BUTTTT recently four transcription factors where found that allows us (geneticists) to convert a skin cell (somatic cell) into a stem cell The new stem cells collected from adult patients are called Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, which react just like a embryonic stem cells without the usage of a embryo The embryonic stem cell which is in fact a pluripotent cell (which isn't allowed to be collected in the US) can now be collected by way of gene activation with the four transcription factors. Thats right JUST FOUR transcription factors we can collect pluripotent cells from an adult person. With these induced pluripotent stem cells we can grow and isolate virtually any tissue we want. Just like in tissue transplant, stem cells can also be rejected BUT with these induced pluripotent stem cells, you can gather a set of stem cells from a patient that can be grown and used in that same person eliminating rejection Because the transcription factors to make IPSC was only recently discovered, very little is known about them One problem revolving around them is that one of the transcription factors is a oncogene (very common cause of cancer) so once induced we can't stop replication and would be virtually implanting a cancerous tissue into a patient. But with these IPSC we can measly study the direct changes between a non cancerous cell directly to a cancerous cell. Using IPSC muscular dystrophy has been cured in mice as well as Cystic Fibrosis symptoms have been greatly reduced in mice. Only time before we see these implications in humans. the four transcription factors are hOct4 hSox2, Hklf4 abd hc-myc
4. Stem cells are cells that reproduce both copies of themselves but also daughter cells that are destined to develop into specific tissue types. For example, neuroblast cells can produce copies of themselves as well as new cells which are destined to become neurons. Stem cells can be in a hierarchy, producing other stem cells that have a more restricted fate than themselves. Ultimately, the single fertilized oocyte is the ultimate stem cell because all future stem cells are its daughter cells. In the case where the fertilized egg cell splits completely, it produces another omnipotent stem cell, and twins emerge. One major scientific issue is whether not a given stem cell can become less specific. For example, could a stem cell that specified a lineage of skin cells become less specific and also produce muscle cells or neurons? That is, can a stem cell become less committed to a specific course of cellular development? One issue is whether or not one can reverse the changes made to DNA or the histone molecules that cover it. Development usually requires that more potent cells become less potent, in the sense that greater potency means that a cell has more possible pathways for development. The correlate of this loss of potency is the attachment of methyl groups to the histones or the DNA. The issue is how reversible is this inactivation. Thus, it clear that if you want to grow specific tissues for medical uses, you are more likely to succeed if you use embryonic stem cells than adult stem cells, if there are any. I suspect that if you wished to grow new heart tissue, it would be easiest to start with embryonic stem cells that will give rise to cardiac muscle cells. The embryonic ones are more potent than the adult ones, because the adult development is more advanced and less likely to be reversed.
5. You're on the right track, but there are a few mistakes. Cell differentiation (the method by which one cell turns into another) is kind of like a big branched tree. Embryonic stem cells are like the tree trunk, and can become any type of cell in the body. Adult stem cells are further up the line. They are like the forks in the branches as you go up. They can turn into many different cell types (further down the branch) but their options are limited, since it would be impossible to 'jump' from one branch to another. For example, an embryonic stem cell could turn into a EPC or a myoblast (two different types of adult stem cells). A stem cell really has more choices than that, but let's use these two for simplicity. An EPC can become a blood cell, a blood vessel, a lymphatic vessel, or an immune cell. A myoblast can become a smooth, cardiac, or skeletal muscle. An EPC could NOT become a muscle cell, however, since that would involve 'jumping branches.' Since embryonic stem cells can become any cell, they are the most interesting ones. Adult stem cells have advantages, though. Even though they have limited choices in differentiation, you can still get them from an adult. If you had heart damage, for example, you could take your own myoblasts, differentiate them into cardiac muscle, then implant them into your own heart to heal the damage (in theory). If you were to use embryonic stem cells (from an embryo, therefore from another person), there is a chance that your body would see them as foreign invaders and reject them. You would need to either use your own embryonic stem cells (which would be impossible, since the embryo is destroyed in the process) or find a way to trick your immune system into ignoring the implanted cells (much like in an organ transplant). The other misconception that people usually have is that embryonic stem cells are taken from a pregnant woman. Embryonic stem cells are usually taken when the embryo is still a little ball of cells, maybe 32, 64, or 128 cells big. Beyond that size, the cells are no longer good for use as stem cells. This is still a microscopic size, and it would be extremely difficult to find and remove it from a pregnant woman. Instead, scientists use embryos created for in vitro fertilization. Normally, many eggs are fertilized, and only a few are implanted. The remainder are either frozen for storage, donated to another couple, or destroyed (because it is very expensive to store them and go through the implantation procedure). The ones that are to be destroyed anyways are the ones that are used to generate embryonic stem cells (after all, if they are going to be destroyed anyways, we might as well use them to help people). Anyone who paints stem cell researchers as being baby-killers is just using lies and inflammatory language to make their point. In the end, embryonic stem cells are the most robust ones, but adult stem cells are the most practical ones. We don't have any real therapies derived from them yet, but there are many on the horizon. Pretty much an disease in which your own cells die off (heart disease, Parkinson's, nerve damage, etc) has the potential to be treated by replacing the damaged cells with stem cells. It's still a little ways off, though.