An
advanced approach in Stem Cell Therapy
Pratikshita
Mishra*
Department of Pharmacology
Rajiv
Academy for Pharmacy, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India
Abstract
Stem cell therapy is emerging as a potentially
revolutionary new way to treat disease and injury, with wide-ranging medical
benefits. It aims to repair damaged and diseased body-parts with healthy new
cells provided by stem cell transplants. Disease and disorders with no
therapies or at best, partially effective ones are the lure of the pursuit of
stem cell research. Recently a plethora of work has been done in this field in
world around including India. However, Stem cell research presents many ethical
and scientific questions as well as future challenges. Nevertheless, stem cell therapy,
a prologue to an era of medical discovery of cell-based therapies that will one
day restore function to those whose lives are now challenged every day, is
still at the beginning of the road.
Keywords- Stem cell,
adult stem cell, stem cell therapy, embryonal stem cell, pluripotent stem cells.
INTRODUCTION:
Stem cell
research has emerged as the most vibrant biological research activity. This is
evidently a reflection of the fact that these cells have the capacity of self renewal
and the potential to differentiate into one or more cell types depending on the
signals in vivo. The applications of such cells clearly go beyond
medical imagination, as they can possibly be used in the treatment of diseases
like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart disorders, spinal cord injuries
or for development of in vitro assay system for drug discovery and
toxicity or for understanding basic developmental process.
Patients
may have concerns about adverse reactions to the stem cell transplants. The
most common reactions to the treatment are fever, headache, leg pain,
diarrhoea, vomiting, and allergic reactions. Less than four percent of patients
e xperience any of these symptoms.
Figure Showing stem cell as a pluripotent cell
Stem
cell cultivation
Growing cells in the laboratory is known as cell culture. Human
embryonic stem cells are isolated by transferring the inner cell mass into a
plastic laboratory culture dish that contains a nutrient broth known as culture
medium. The cells divide and spread over the surface of the dish. Over the
course of several days, the cells of the inner cell mass proliferate and begin
to crowd the culture dish. When this occurs, they are removed gently and plated
into several fresh culture dishes. Embryonic stem cells that have proliferated
in cell culture for six or more months without differentiating, are pluripotent
and appear genetically normal are referred to as embryonic stem cell line.
Stem cells and diabetes
Type 1 diabetes
appears to be especially difficult to cure, because the cells are destroyed
when the body’s own immune system attacks and destroys them. This autoimmunity must
be overcome if researchers hope to use transplanted cells to replace damaged
ones. The molecular mechanisms of cellular self-renewal must be understood more
deeply that can efficiently maintain human stem cell lines in their pluripotent
state. In addition, the culture methods should be improved to generate
sufficient cells for clinical use. A strong potential for developing
differentiated b-like cells from human ESCs, although much more work is
needed to realize it.
Role of stem cell in
Bioartificial Liver Construction
The liver carries out a range of
functions essential for bodily homeostasis. The impairment of liver functions
has serious implications and is responsible for high rates of patient morbidity
and mortality. Presently, liver transplantation remains the only effective
treatment, but donor availability is a major limitation. Therefore, artificial
and bioartificial liver devices have been
developed to bridge patients to
liver transplantation. Existing support devices improve hepatic encephalopathy
to a certain extent; however their usage is associated with side effects. The
major hindrance in the development of bioartificial liver devices and cellular
therapies is the limited
availability of human hepatocytes.
Induced
pluripotent stem cells for retinal degenerative diseases
Retinal degenerative diseases,
including age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, are the predominant
causes of human blindness in the world; however, these diseases are difficult
to treat. Currently, knowledge on the mechanisms of these diseases is still
very limited and no radical drugs are available. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS)
cells are an innovative technology that turns somatic cells into embryonic stem
(ES)-like cells with pluripotent potential via the exogenous expression of
several key genes. It can be used as an unlimited source for cell
differentiation or tissue engineering, either of which is a promising therapy
for human degenerative diseases. Induced pluripotent cells are both an
unlimited source for retinal regeneration and an expectant tool for
pharmaprojects and developmental or disease modelling.
Tn the above figure, Illustration of patient-specific
iPSC generation and its utility for retinal degenerative disease research and
cell replacement therapy.
STEM
CELLS FOR TOOTH ENGINEERING
different sources
of stem cells that have been used for making teeth in vitro and their
relative efficiency. Embryonic, post-natal or even adult stem cells were
assessed and proved to possess an enormous regenerative potential, but their
application in dental practice is still problematic and limited due to various
parameters that are not yet under control such as the high risk of rejection,
cell behaviour, long tooth eruption period, appropriate crown morphology and suitable
colour. Nevertheless, the development of biological approaches for dental
reconstruction using stem cells is promising and remains one of the greatest
challenges in the dental field for the years to come.
Epidermal stem cells determination, differentiation and wound
healing
The field of
epidermal stem cells has dramatically advanced in the last decade, leading to a
better understanding of the molecular factors, signalling pathways and cellular
events that identify and characterize stem cells, thus revealing their immense
potential for therapeutic use. Furthermore, multipotent epidermal stem cells
present the major advantage of easy accessibility with the discovery of their
specific location within the bulge of the hair follicle.
This review focuses
on the most recent findings on epidermal stem cells, and their potential role
in initial epidermal commitment, differentiation and wound healing processes in
the skin.
DISCUSSION:
Most cells in the body have a specific function in particular organs,
such as the liver, skin or brain. Stem cells are relatively undifferentiated
and have the ability to develop into different types of cells to exert
specialised functions. Among stem cell’s most notable characteristic is its
ability to proliferate into a completely new, normal, and even younger cell. As
a result, people can use their autologous or allogenic stem cells, or stem cell
derived tissues or organs, to replace ill or aging tissues or organs, thus,
enabling stem cell research as well as treatments for a wide range of diseases
and injuries, many of which cannot be treated with traditional medical methods.
Stem Cell- Indian
Perspective
A lost science?
In Adi parva, one of the chapters of
Mahabharata, it is said that Kauravas were created from pinda [a ball of flesh]
which Gandhari delivered after two years of pregnancy. It was then handed over
to the sage Dwapayan, which was then divided into one hundred parts and treated
with herbs and ghee. The pieces were then covered with cloth and kept in a
chamber to cool for two years; out of which the Kauravas were born.” There
cannot be any other explanation for this….. The ancient sages of India must
have perfected the art of regenerating entire human beings from cells. In fact
Mahabharata clearly describes the various stages of processing pieces of flesh,
which is in fact closely comparable to modern techniques of harvesting and
processing embryonic stem cells.[sans the sophistication!]. Perhaps stem cell
research was altogether a lost science of ancient India
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteNice blog
check out our blogs
punarnava powder online