group of undifferentiatied and unspecialized cells

capable of extensive proliferation and self-renewal through mitosis

DEFINITION

can differentiate into various specialized cell types with specialized functions upon stimulation

by the appropriate molecular signals through differential gene expression -> activate/inactivate

activators/repressors/transcription factors

self-renewal

growth and development do not have any tissue-specific structures

FUNCTIONS OF STEM CELLS

undifferentiated and unspecialized

differentiate into specialized cells to regnerate/replace cells that are lost due to cell death and cannot perform tissue-specific functions as they are not adapted to perform unique roles unlike
injury haemoglobin etc

capable of dividing and renewing itself many times by mitosis

mutipotent nature of adult stem cells ensure that they differentiate into the respective

specialized cell type, thus restoring function of damaged/diseased tissue stem cell divides to produce 2 daughter stem cells

advantages of stem cell therapy

self-renewing nature of stem cells ensures that transplanted stem cells constantly replicate to daughter stem cells possss the same developmental and differentiation potential as the parent

maintain a constant pool of stem cells cell

can undergo extensive proliferation and self-renewal
symmetrical division
leukaemia: type of cancer of the blood characterized by abnormal increase in # of immature daughter stem cells have the same characteristics as parental cell (shape, responses to

WBC -> cells not functional, crowd the bone marrow and prevent production of normal WBCs molecular signals etc)

enlarges the population of undifferentiated cells, maintains a pool of stem cells for further
UNIQUE FEATURES
patient is irradiated to remove all existing haematopoietic cells and WBCs from body division
2 possible types of cell divison
bone marrow haematopoietic stem cells transplants
bone marrow haematopoietic stem cells from normal, healthy bone marrow donors are produces 1 daughter stem cell that is identical to the parental stem cell and 1 progenitor

multiplied, and infused into the patient -> populate and differentiate into normal blood cells -> daughter cell

restore function of blood

TREATMENTS INVOLVING STEM CELLS occurs when stem cell is stimulated by molecular signals for differentiation

stem cells capable of self-renewal -> no need for repeated transplants since replication will asymmetrical division
1. stem cell transplant in regenerative medicine
ensure constant pool of stem cells that will differentiate into various blood cells daughter stem cell - ensure a constant pool of stem cells

neurological diseases like parkinson's and multiple sclerosis are caused by damage to progenitor daughter cell - increase/renew population of specilalized cells in a specific tissue,
neurones and nervous tissues only capable of differentiating into related specialized cell type

neural stem cell transplant for neurological disorders

introduce neural stem cells into damaged tissue -> adult neural stem cells will proliferate and molecular signals switch some genes on and others off
differentiate into neuron/nervous tissue type that is destroyed able to differentiate to produce specialized cells upon receiving appropriate molecular signals

eg. transcription factors, growth factors, hormones, cell-cell signals

involves removing stem cells from patient, genetically modifying the genome of the cells to

insert a normal, functional allele and then reintroducing modified stem cells into the patient
stem cells

2. genetically modified stem cell transplant in gene therapy of genetic diseases

modified stem cells are capable of self-renewal -> proliferate to form mre genetically modified has the ability to differentiate into all cell types that make up an organism including extra-

stem cells that contain therapeutic gene -> differentiate into specialized cell that restores the embryonic tissue (eg. placenta)

functions of diseased tissues

totipotent via multiple cellular divisions, has the ability to give rise to entire organism

zygotic stem cell that is derived from zygote

embryo has the status of human being as it has the potential to be one -> violates sanctity of
examples and sources
life
cells that are produced within the first 3 divison (8 cell stage) after the egg is fertilized

extracting stem cells from embryo -> treating embryo as source of spare parts
has the ability to differentiate into all the cell types that make up an orgniasm except extra-

embryonic tissue
claims of the benefits of embryonic stem cell research are over-rated

POTENCY cannot form the entire organism as extraembryonic tissue is required for fetal nourishment and
current benign applications may lead to abuse in future -> precedent may extend to other pluripotent
arguments against using ES cells development
categories of humans such as the profoundly disabled/elderly infirm

eg. embryonic stem cells derived from cells of inner cell mass of blastocyst at about 4-4 days
possibility of unforeseen circumstances
post fertilization

unnecessary bc alternative techniques such as adult stem cells, have alr produced some
has the ability to differentiate into several related cell types but far fewer than pluripotent stem
results
cells

issues of informed consent, understanding of research aims and policy

replacement and repair of organs
multipotent

can potentially treat wide range of diseases bc they have potential to grow indefinitely in lab
blood stem cells found primarily in bone marrow -> can differentiate to all types of blood cells,
environment, can differentiate into almost all types of bodily tissue
including RBCs, WBCs and platelets
examples and sources

embryos are not equivalent to human life

neural stem cells -> differentiate into nerve cells and neural supporting cells

legislation of the period when ES cells can be extracted

arguments for using ES cells
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING STEM CELL RESEARCH

more than 1/3 of zygotes do not implant after conception, more embryos are lost due to 4-5 days following fertilization, blastocyst (ball of cells) is formed

chance than are proposed to be used for ES cell research

blastocyst consists of inner cell mass (pluripotent), trophoblast and blastocyst cavity
embryonic stem cells
instead of destroying new human embyos to establish new stem cell lines, there are existing

stem cell lines that can be used inner cell mass will develop into foetus while trophoblast will develop into placenta and other

supporting tissues

type of pluripotent stem cell that can be generated directly from adult somatic cells SOURCES OF STEM CELLS FOR RESEARCH AND THERAPY

embryonic stem cells proliferate and differentiate into adult stem cells

can be derived directly from adult tissues -> does not generate/destory any human embryos

multipotent -> can only differentiate into several related specialized cell types
adult/somatic stem cells

can be easily procured from any type of adult/specialized somatic cell w/o risk to donor main purpose is to produce specialized cells for growth and development, and

regeneration/replacement of cells that are lost due to cell death and injury

open possibility of generating lots of patient-specific cells -> will not be rejected by immune
advantages
system upon transplantation
induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) potential solution to overcome ethical concerns

allows generation of pluripotent stem cell lines from patients with inherited dieases -> better

understand why diseases develop and use in personalized drug discovery efforts

generation of sex cells for treating infertility

low efficiency: low conversion to iPSC

may cause cancer by overexpression of proto-oncogenes or switching off of tumor suppressor

possible problems
genes

ethical concerns related to crreation of embryos and children from IPSC-derived sex cells