Stem Cell Types





Stem cells can now be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture and used for stem cell treatments. Highly plastic adult stem cells from a variety of sources, including umbilical cord blood and bone marrow, are routinely used in medical therapies. Embryonic cell lines and autologous embryonic stem cells generated through therapeutic cloning have also been proposed as promising candidates for future therapies.

The classical definition of a stem cell requires that it possess two properties: Self-renewal - the ability to go through numerous cycles of cell division while maintaining the undifferentiated state. Potency - the capacity to differentiate into specialized cell types. 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. [edit] Self-renewal Two mechanisms exist to ensure that the stem cell population is maintained: Obligatory asymmetric replication - a stem cell divides into one daughter cell that is identical to the original stem cell, and another daughter cell that is differentiated Stochastic differentiation - when one stem cell develops into two differentiated daughter cells, another stem cell undergoes mitosis and produces two stem cells identical to the original.

Embryonic stem cell lines are cultures of cells derived from the epiblast tissue of the inner cell mass of earlier stage embryos. They can develop into each of the more than 200 cell types of the adult body when given sufficient and necessary stimulation for a specific cell type.

Most adult stem cells are lineage-restricted and are generally referred to by their tissue origin (mesenchymal stem cell, adipose-derived stem cell, endothelial stem cell, etc.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types. Cell types that MSCs have been shown to differentiate into include osteoblasts (bone cells), chondrocytes (cartilage cells) and adipocytes (fat cells).


Mesenchymal Stem Cell treatments > >

OPC Stem Cells - Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells

 Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells come from pluripotent embryonic stem cells and can be used for treating spinal cord injuries.


Beyond spinal cord injury Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells also have potential for use in a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis and stroke.

More on OPC Stem Cells - Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells > >

Allogeneic Stem Cells

When your own Stem Cells are sufficient Stem Cells can be used from other donors, these are called Allogeneic Stem Cells, typically umbilical cord cells and placenta cells. Young cord blood cells can be used from The Placenta, Umbilical Cord, and other young sources. These young cells are more likely than stem cells found in bone marrow or adipose tissue (fat) to have proliferative properties. This means that stem cells found in cord blood have a greater ability to regenerate.

Study comparing Cord Blood cells vs, Bone Marrow cells. "hbmMSC [human bone marrow cells] proliferating more slowly than hpMSC [human placenta or cord blood] in every experiment"

"hpMSC [human placenta] had greater long-term growth ability than [bone marrow] hbmMSC" Read the study here.

Depending on budget, condition, age and other factors the best solution can be determined. Sometimes young cells are placed directly into an organ, other times a simple IV with cells harvested from your own bone marrow will do just fine.

We can help you make this decision.

Autologous Stem Cells

Stem Cells taken from your body, cultured (or stored), and, possibly, genetically manipulated before being transferred back into the original donor.

An autologous stem cell transplant is one in which the patient receives stem cells from his own bone marrow or fat cells. One advantage of this stem cell treatment procedure is that in an autologous stem cell transplant, the body recognizes the cells and therefore does not reject or attack them An allogeneic stem cell transplant is a procedure in which a patient receives stem cells from a young donor source.

Autologous Stem Cell Treatments > >