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Stem Cell Therapy

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can differentiate into specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells. There are several types of stem cells including embryonic, adult, and fetal stem cells. Current stem cell therapies include hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to treat blood disorders and diabetes, using stem cells from hair follicles to treat baldness, and stem cell therapy for corneal disease, Parkinson's disease, brain damage, and missing teeth. Potential applications also include using stem cells to treat heart damage, deafness, orthopedic injuries, and for gene therapy. However, stem cell research faces ethical issues regarding the source of embryonic stem cells.

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Aref Dahabrah
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106 views

Stem Cell Therapy

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can differentiate into specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells. There are several types of stem cells including embryonic, adult, and fetal stem cells. Current stem cell therapies include hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to treat blood disorders and diabetes, using stem cells from hair follicles to treat baldness, and stem cell therapy for corneal disease, Parkinson's disease, brain damage, and missing teeth. Potential applications also include using stem cells to treat heart damage, deafness, orthopedic injuries, and for gene therapy. However, stem cell research faces ethical issues regarding the source of embryonic stem cells.

Uploaded by

Aref Dahabrah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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STEM CELL THERAPY

Jaswinder devi
RP8003A05
11008684
What are Stem cells?

 Stem cells are “master cells “


 The raw material :- from which all of
the body’s mature,
differentiated cells are made.
 Stem cells give rise to brain cells,
nerve cells, heart cells, pancreatic
cells, etc.
The unique properties of all stem cells

 Undifferentiated / unspecialized cells


 Undifferentiated cells can
differentiate to yield major
specialized cell types or organs
 Self-renewal property is to maintain
and repair the tissue. Thus they have
potential to replace cell tissue
damaged by severe illnesses.
Stem cell

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Stem cell Specialized cell
( unlimited
cell (e.g., white blood cell)
division )
Potency definitions of stem cells
 Totipotent : can differentiate into an
entire organism , result from fusion
of egg and sperm
- can form any cell of the embryo as
well as the placenta.

 Pluripotent : can differentiate into


any tissue type except placental
tissue
 Multipotent : can differentiate
into multiple specialized cells of
a closely related family of cells

 Unipotent : these cells only


produce one cell type., but have
the property of self renewal
which distinguishes them from
the non stem cells.
Types of stem cells
 Embryonic : derived from the inner
cell mass of a blastocyst / human
embryo

Source :
1. Excess fertilized eggs from IVF (in-
vitro fertilization) clinics
5. Therapeutic cloning (somatic cell
nuclear transfer)
Zona pellucida
Blastomeres

(Zygote)
 Adult : derived from mature organisms that
can divide to form more differentiated cells
- but are less versatile and more difficult to
identify, isolate, and purify.

Eg: Stem cells have been found in the


blood, bone marrow, liver, kidney, cornea,
dental pulp, brain, skin, muscle

 Fetal : derived from aborted fetal tissue

 Umbilical : derived from umbilical cords


- All blood cell types (red blood cells, white
blood cells, and platelets)
Advantages of Embryonic Stem Cells
over adult stem cells

Embryonic S.C. Adult S.C.

“Pluripotent” “Multipotent”
(can become any cell (“can become many
types present in the human but not any”)
body ) E.g., blood stem cells can
develop into several blood
cell types, but cannot
develop into brain, kidney, or
liver cells
Stable. Can undergo Less Stable. Capacity
many cell divisions. for self-renewal is
limited.

Easy to obtain but Difficult to isolate in


blastocyst is adult tissue.
destroyed.
How stem cell therapy works?

When stem cells are transplanted


into the body and arrive into the
injured part, brain being targeted for
tissue regeneration, the stem cells
are coming in contact with growth
chemical’s (like EGF’s , NGF’s and
HGF’s )in the body. These chemicals
program the stem cells to
differentitate into the tissue
surrounding it.
Current stem cell therapy
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
(“HSCT”)
 Stem cells that give rise to the lymphocytes and
other cells of the immune system, also make blood
cells, are called hematopoietic stem cells.
 HSC’s are charecterised by the presence of CD 34
antigen

 The process of taking stem cells from one person


and putting them into another is therefore called “
HCST”
 To treat cancer patients with conditions such as
leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell anaemia,
 Used in Providing a functional immune system in a
person with SCID.
 In Restoring the haematopoietic system
Stem cells in treating baldness

 As hair follicles contain stem cells –


dermal papilla
 Take stem cells from existing hair
follicles
 Multiply them in cultures
 Implant the new follicles into the
scalp
Stem cells from patient’s plucked hair
can be grow into skin

 Hair follicles contain skin stem cells


(keratinocyte)
 Pluck the patient’s hair
 Cultured to form epidermal cells
equivalents of the patients own skin
 This is autologous graft thus
bypassing the problem of rejection
 Used for venous ulcers and burn
victims
Diabetes

 Diabetes patients lose


the function of their
insulin-producing beta
cells of the pancreas.
 Human embryonic
stem cells may be
grown in cell cultures
and stimulate to form
insulin-producing
cells , that can be
transplanted into the
patient
 Pancreas is digested with
collagenase that frees islets from
surrounding cells
 Centrifugation of isolates containing
mainly alpha and beta cells
 Then purified islets beta cells
 And transplanted through a catheter
into the liver where they become
permanantly established.
Corneal disease / blindness

 Result in poor vision


 Take stem cells from healthy eye
 Grown onto contact lenses in clinical
lab
 Lenses are worn by the patient for a
period of three weeks
 Then migration of human stem cells
from lens to damaged eye and begin
to repair process
 Thus heals the damaged cornea and
quickly improves the vision
Parkinson disease

 Caused when key brain cells that


produce message carrying chemical/
neurotransmitter (dopamine) die off.
 Symptoms start with the patients
trembling and can end up paralyzed.
 Harvesting of stem cells from
patients bone marrow, foetus or any
other source
 Culturing of harvested stem cells in
lab conditions - to get high
concentrations of stem cells
 Then purified and high concentration
of stem cells are surgically injected
in the brain of patient.
Brain damage

 Stroke and traumatic brain injury


lead to cell death, characterized by a
loss of neurons and
oligodendrocytes within the brain.
 Healthy adult brain contain neural
stem cells, these divide and act to
maintain general stem cell numbers
or become progenitor cells.
Missing teeth

 Take stem cells/dental pulp from the


patient. Both adult mesenchymal stem cells
and embryonic stem cells can be used
 Culture in lab.- into a tooth bud
 Then implant tooth bud in gum which
fuses with jaw bone and release
chemicals that encourage nerves &
blood vessels to connect with gum
 As a result it will give rise to new
tooth/ dentin approximately within 2
months
Kidney Stem Cells

 Take stem cells from


embryo ,bone marrow or an
umbilical cords
 Culture these stem cells with
special chemical broth that
encourages the growth of
kidney cells
 Then new kidney cells can
now be injected into a kidney
to repair damaged tissue
Deafness/ hearing loss

 Embryonic stem cells are capable of


differentiating into cochlear hair cells
in the adult inner ear
Orthopaedia

 Take healthy cartilage tissue


 Tissue culture of isolated
chondrocytes
 Inject the cultured chondrocytes in
knee under patch
 Treat chondral defects
Heart damage
Stem cells for Gene Therapy
Potential obstacles
 Difficulty of performing
transplantation and caring for
post-transplantation patients.
 Specific factors that aid or
hinder acceptance of the
particular transplant
 Ability to obtain source material
due to ethical concerns
Advantage

 The critical shortage of organs


available for transplantation may be
solved in the future by auto-graft
techniques
 Security : low toxicity or non toxic
Ethical issues

 As human embryonic stem cell are


isolated from few days old blastocyst
as well as fetal tissues
 Many prolifers believe that human
life becomes a human person at the
time of fertilization
 Others disagree : they believe that
an embryo has potential to develop
into a person, but is not a person
itself.
Thanks….

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