Stem Cells.pdf

Handbook of

Experimental Pharmacology

Volume 174

Editor-in-Chief

K. Starke, Freiburg i. Br.

Editorial Board

G.V.R. Born, London

M. Eichelbaum, Stuttgart

D. Ganten, Berlin

F. Hofmann, München

W. Rosenthal, Berlin

G. Rubanyi, Richmond, CA

Stem Cells

Contributors

M.R.Alison,C.Badorff,N.Benvenisty,B.Berninger,N.Beyer

Nardi, A. Branzi, M. Brittan, P. Budde, G.A. Colvin, H. Darr,

C. Denning, S. Dimmeler, F. Dönmez, M.S. Dooner,

R. Enseñat-Waser, L.J. Field, M. Götz, G. Grenier, M. Hack,

R.Harris,J.Jones,T.León-Quinto,M.Lovell,C.Mummery,

R. Passier, G. Paul, P.J. Quesenberry, J.A. Reig, E. Roche,

S. Rose-John, M. Rubart, M.A. Rudnicki, H. Sauer, L. da Silva

Meirelles, B. Soria, N.D. Theise, C. Ventura, M. Wartenberg,

G. Weitzer, N.A. Wright

Editors

Anna M. Wobus and Kenneth R. Boheler

123

Professor

Anna M. Wobus, PhD

In Vitro Differentiation Group

Dept. of Cytogenetics

Leibnitz Institute of Plant Genetics

and Crop Plant Research (IPK)

Corrensstr. 3

D-06466 Gatersleben

Germany

wobusam@ipk-gatersleben.de

Kenneth R. Boheler, PhD

Investigator

Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science

Gerontology Research Program

National Institute on Aging, NIH

5600 Nathan Shock Drive

Baltimore, MD 21224

USA

bohelerk@grc.nia.nih.gov

With 53 Figures and 24 Tables

ISSN 0171-2004

ISBN-10 3-540-26133-8 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York

ISBN-13 978-3-540-26133-9 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York

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Preface

Signiﬁcant advances in stem cell research and their potentials for therapeu-

tic applications have attracted the attention of the scientiﬁc community and

captured the imagination of society as a whole. Not so long ago, the study of

most stem cells, other than those that regenerated the haematopoietic system,

was rather obscure and limited to a relatively small number of researchers and

laboratories. The uproar over stem cells really began in 1998 with the suc-

cessful derivation of pluripotent human embryonic stem (ES) cells by James

Thomson and co-workers. This breakthrough and the subsequent generation

of specialized human cells in vitro led to a paradigm shift within the scien-

tiﬁc community, which transformed this specialized endeavour from a topic of

scientiﬁc interest to a line of investigationwith the potential to generate cells ca-

pable of treating serious ailments, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases

and neurodegenerative disorders. Thus the dawn of regenerative medicine has

spawned from the somewhat esoteric study of stem cells.

Since 1998, extensive research endeavours have been devoted to the study of

both embryonic and adult stem cells. Early reports suggested that adult stem

cells had a higher plasticity than previously believed, perhaps even comparable

with that demonstrated by embryonic stem cells, but several observations of

the so-called transdifferentiation capacity and plasticity of adult stem cells

have not been repeated. These reports, however, encouraged on-going debates

about the capacity of adult versus embryonic stem cells and their potential

use in regenerative medicine. Although at times controversial, these research

efforts led to a better, although still limited, understanding of stem cells with

respect to their identiﬁcation, isolation, and developmental capacities.

Importantly, stem cells do not represent static entities that do not differ

between embryos and adults. In fact, embryonic stem cells in early embryos

represent basic units of life in higher organisms, while adult stem cells in

somatic tissues represent cellular stores capable of regenerating tissue and

maintaining organ functions. Regardless of these differences in potential, all

stem cells derived from the embryo or adult are characterized by unique

properties that permit accurate cell copying in vivo in a process termed self-

renewal. Additionally, all stem cells retain the capacity to differentiate into

more mature cell types. It is the degree of self-renewal and differentiation

potential that differs among the various stem cell populations and cell lines.

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