Induced pluripotent stem cells and regenerative medicine

Abstract

a b s t r a c tStem cells, a special subset of cells derived from embryo or adult tissues, are known to present the characteristics of self-renewal, multiple lineages of differentiation, high plastic capability, and long-term maintenance. Recent reports have further suggested that neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from the adult hippocampal and subventricular regions possess the utilizing potential to develop the transplantation strategies and to screen the candidate agents for neurogenesis, neuroprotection, and neuroplasticity in neurodegenerative diseases. In this article, we review the roles of NSCs and other stem cells in neuroprotective and neurorestorative therapies for neurological and psychiatric diseases. We show the evidences that NSCs play the key roles involved in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative disorders, including depression, stroke, and Parkinson's disease. Moreover, the potential and possible utilities of induced pluripotent stem cells, reprogramming from adult fibroblasts with ectopic expression of four embryonic genes, are also reviewed and further discussed. An understanding of the biophysiology of stem cells could help us elucidate the pathogenicity and develop new treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. In contrast to cell transplantation therapies, the application of stem cells can further provide a platform for drug discovery and small molecular testing, including Chinese herbal medicines. In addition, the high-throughput stem cell-based systems can be used to elucidate the mechanisms of neuroprotective candidates in translation medical research for neurodegenerative diseases.

Modeling Alzheimer’s disease with iPSC-derived brain cells

“…Human stem cell technologies also raise intriguing possibilities for regenerative and personalized medicines, topics that have been reviewed elsewhere [60,61,190,191]. A serious safety concern for regenerative medicine, however, is genomic instability exhibited by iPSCs, which can also be an issue for experimental studies using these cells [192][193][194][195][196][197].…”

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Dental and Nondental Tissue Regeneration: A Review of an Unexploited Potential

“…The periodontal differentiation potential of iPSCs derived from human gingival fibroblasts and treated with growth differentiation factor-(GDF-) 5 was investigated at different passages [5,10,15,20]. All iPSCs-GDF-5-treated passages revealed a high proliferative ability and attained fibroblast-like cell morphology, significant production of calcified nodules, and upregulated expression of bone-related gene (OCN and BSP), periodontal ligament-related gene (periostin and vimentin), and cementum-related genes (cementum attachment protein and cementum protein 1) as compared to their untreated controls [131].…”

“…However, ES usage in regenerative medicine faces a lot of obstacles as their isolation requires destruction of human embryos which raises justified ethical objections. ES can also elicit an immune response upon transplantation in patients [5]. In 2006, Takahashi et al [6] demonstrated that mature differentiated cells can be reprogrammed and dedifferentiated into embryonic-like cells, with ES-like properties.…”

Surface modification of implanted cardiovascular metal stents: From antithrombosis and antirestenosis to endothelialization

“…Whether regenerative medicine should be applied in CVD therapy is one of the issues under debate. Regenerative technologies using embryonic stem cells for research and therapy are ethically controversial,whereas other stem cells induced pluripotent stem cells, and progenitor cells have great potential in cell‐based regenerative medicine because they avoid many of the ethical concerns associated with the use of embryonic or fetal material. For example, induced pluripotent stem cells appear to be an ideal substitute for embryonic stem cells .…”