LEARN ABOUT ORIGINAL CELL (Part 5)

Author: Dr. Tran Manh Hung , MA, STD
Original English

7. What can be used to treat stem cells?

The most promising application of stem cells comes from the ability to transform into many different mature cells with full functionality. Stem cells are a potential source for replacing cells to treat many diseases. Therefore, any disease that causes tissue damage can be treated with stem cell therapy, which includes diseases and disabilities such as Parkinson's disease, dementia, spinal cord injury, and stroke. pancreatitis, burns, heart disease, type 1 diabetes, chronic osteoarthritis, rheumatism, muscular dystrophy and liver disease.

In addition, retinal restoration by eye stem cells can be a solution for eye diseases that will someday bring light to the blind.

Embryonic stem cells, a type of cell that can make all kinds of adult cells, with full functionality, lead to the hope that they will one day produce cells or tissues that can develop into a heart, liver, or even a kidney, helps solve the problem of organ donor shortages. However, there is no evidence yet that embryonic stem cells can be used to treat human disease ⁶ . Scientists need to prove that they have succeeded in treating animal diseases using embryonic stem cells. They must prove that this is an effective and uncomplicated solution that can be allowed to be tested on humans. This is the minimum requirement when studying human embryonic stem cells has overcome the moral barrier.

Plasticity of adult stem cells: Flexibility / flexibility of adult stem cells .

Replacing adult stem cells with appropriate donor bone marrow transplant techniques is a long-standing treatment for blood cancer and blood disorders. However, because of a lack of donors, as well as toxicity caused during bone marrow transplantation, this method is limited to a small number of patients. The method of genetically modified genes / genes in the bone marrow stem cells of patients, then proceeded to transplant, hoping to become an effective alternative in the future. However, genetic engineering needs to be improved, before being ready for medical use.

Recently the application of adult stem cells has opened up new possibilities when researchers have demonstrated that cells in the bone marrow can transform into specialized cells in many different tissues such as blood, brain, muscles, kidneys, spleen and liver.

Many experiments were conducted to show that some types of adult stem cells are almighty cells. Being able to differentiate into many other cell types is called flexibility (plasticity ⁷ ) or transdifferentiation ⁸ . The following are examples of the versatility and transformation of adult stem cells published in recent years.

Blood stem cells can differentiate into: three types of main brain cells (neurons, oligodendrocyte - the type of cells that make myelin, and astrocytes astrocyte); Skeletal muscle cells, cardiac muscle cells and liver cells.

Bone marrow cells can differentiate into: cardiac muscle cells and skeletal muscle cells.

Restore heart muscle with adult stem cells

One benefit of the application of adult stem cells is that the patient's cells can be nourished in the culture medium and then returned to the patient's body. Main use of adult stem cells of patients means that the cells will not be eliminated by the immune system. This has a huge benefit, since immunological adaptation is a problem that can only be solved with immunosuppressive drugs ⁹ .

1. Stem cells are selected from the patient's pelvic bone marrow.
2. Adult stem cells are injected into the patient's heart where it is damaged.
3. Cells that attach themselves and produce proteins (proteins) provide signals for the development of new blood vessels and heart muscle.
Rejuvenated heart tissue: Rejuvenates heart tissue (makes the heart's tissues younger).

Current research focuses on determining the mechanism by which stem cells from an adult cell can reproduce cell types of another tissue, or the differentiation (see Transdifferentiation annotation) of cells. Adult roots. If these mechanisms can be identified and controlled, stem cells from healthy tissue can be stimulated to grow in order to restore diseased tissue.

One can imagine that one day, we can separate our own bone marrow cells, process them and put them back into the body to renew or restore cells in many different organs.

8. Can the prospect of stem cell therapy be realized?

The medical achievements of stem cells can bring about, seemingly expanding with an unexpected pace. The importance of stem cells in medicine is undeniable, but it also lurks the danger of exaggerating the potential of new medical techniques. Things that have been exaggerated here, include not only the potential effect of studying embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells, but also the time taken. Basic research needs to be formed in a long process, maybe from a few years to several decades, from which to develop medical applications. It takes years to thoroughly test applications to demonstrate their safety when applied to patients. This is true not only for existing cellular therapies, derived from stem cell research, but also perfectly reasonable for all medical treatments, including the study of the production of new pharmaceuticals. , new processes, as well as new medical equipment.

Attention must be paid to solving social and legal questions, before stem cell therapies are used in medicine. Legal issues affecting the application of stem cells, including questions: how to deal with intellectual property concerns and how to apply them and follow diverse rules , but sometimes contradicts local and state. Social issues include concerns about the destruction of embryos, the distribution of the benefits of research, the protection of the private and natural interests of egg and sperm donors along with the object of medical research.

9. Is the stem cell therapy applied today?

Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) are present in the bone marrow, precursor to all blood cells, and are currently the only stem cells commonly used in the treatment of diseases. Doctors conduct transfusion of stem cells (HSCs) with bone marrow transplant techniques for more than 40 years. Advanced techniques to collect or 'harvest' Blood cell stem cells are currently being used to treat leukemia, lymphoma and some genetic blood disorders.

The medical potential of stem cells is also demonstrated in other human disease treatments, including diabetes, kidney cancer that has developed to dangerous levels. However, these new therapies have only been conducted for a few patients, using adult stem cells.

New medical applications of stem cells are currently being tested in the treatment of liver cancer, coronary artery disease, metabolic disorders of the body (amyloidosis - starch degradation), and autoimmune , chronic infections (lupus) and cancers at the development stage.

Note:

⁶ . See Rich Deem, What Wrong with Embryonic Stem Cell Research?

⁷ . Plasticity: The ability of stem cells from an adult cell to reproduce cells of another tissue.

⁸ . Transdifferentiation: Surveys show that stem cells from a tissue are able to differentiate into cells of another tissue.

⁹ . See Stem Cell Basics

Tra Mi translates
Complete translation of Tran Manh Hung
Copyright © 2008 byTrần Mạnh Hùng

- Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 6--