There is a lot of information on the web about stem cells. Weeding through them all and figuring out what really is the truth can be daunting for a lot of people. This fact sheet provides an overview of what stem cell is and will allow you to move forward in your research or your decision to give stem cell therapy a chance.
Unique Properties of Stem Cells
Stem cells have several unique properties that separate them from other cells:
- They are unspecialized cells.
- They can self-renew, which means they are capable of replenishing themselves for long periods of time by dividing.
- They can differentiate into specialized cells such as a nerve or heart cell.
Potency of Stem Cells
A stem cell’s potency is a term used to denote its ability to give rise to other cells in the body. Stem cells can be separated into several potency categories:
- Totipotent stem cells: they can differentiate into any type of cell in the human body, including the placenta.
- Pluripotent stem cells: they descend from totipotent stem cells and after several days, can differentiate into any type of cell except for totipotent stem cells.
- Multipotent stem cells: these descend from pluripotent stem cells and can differentiate into many cell lines within a specific type of tissue.
- Unipotent stem cells: this type of stem cells is a descendant of a multipotent stem cell and can give rise to a single cell type.
In the strictest sense, this requires stem cells to be either totipotent or pluripotent—to be able to give rise to any mature cell type, although multipotent or unipotent progenitor cells are sometimes referred to as stem cells.
Sources of Stem Cells
Stem cells may be derived from several sources and research is currently ongoing for therapeutic use of stem cells from all sources. The isolation and extraction of stem cells allows them to be categorized as:
- Embryonic stem cells: they are extracted from embryos and are thought to hold the most potential, because these cells can give rise to virtually any specialized cell in the human body.
- Adult stem cells: these are present in adult tissues such as the bone marrow, brain and blood but are limited in potential relative to embryonic stem cells.
- Umbilical Cord Stem Cells: Umbilical cord blood stem cells can be obtained from the umbilical cord immediately after birth. Like bone marrow, umbilical cord blood is another rich source of hematopoietic stem cells, since 1988.
- Fetal Stem Cells: They are relatively a new addition into the community of different sources of stem cells, exhibiting unique and fascinating features. FSCs can not only be isolated from the fetal blood and hemopoietic organs in early pregnancy, but also from a variety of somatic organs as well as amniotic fluid and placenta throughout gestation
Benefits of Stem Cells
Stem cells are currently used to treat cancers such as leukemia. You may be familiar with the concept of bone marrow transplants, which have been used for decades now to provide a healthy source of cells in the body. Other diseases that stem cells may help include:
- Parkinson’s disease
- Autism
- Retinal diseases
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Type I diabetes
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Motor Neuron Disease
- Stroke.
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Cerebral Palsy
We kept this list short. We hope that this list of facts will help you to make the right decisions. If you want to understand stem cells in more depth read our book titled “Stem Cell Therapy in Neurological Disorders”.
