Adult Stem Cells Adult stem cells are rare Today, there is new evidence that stem cells are present in far more tissues and organs than once thought and that these cells are capable of developing into more kinds of cells than previously imagined. (

Adult Stem Cells In fact, no one knows the origin of adult stem cells in any mature tissue. Some have proposed that stem cells are somehow set aside during fetal development and restrained from differentiating. (

Adult Stem Cells Definitions of adult stem cells vary in the scientific literature range from a simple description of the cells to a rigorous set of experimental criteria that must be met before characterizing a particular cell as an adult stem cell. Most of the information about adult stem cells comes from studies of mice. (

Adult Stem Cells The list of adult tissues reported to contain stem cells is growing and includes bone marrow, peripheral blood, brain, spinal cord, dental pulp, blood vessels, skeletal muscle, epithelia of the skin and digestive system, cornea, retina, liver, and pancreas. (

Adult Stem Cells However, more work is needed to determine if they are true stem cells or are progenitor cells (

Cardiac Stem Cells? Scientists in Feb announced in journal Nature the discovery of progenitor cells, similar to stem cells, in the mouse, rat and human heart that can divide in vitro and can differentiate into contracting cardiac cells. (Boston Globe, Feb. 10, 2005)

Cardiac Stem Cells? The article stated that there were probably too few of the cells in a heart to be a natural repair mechanism.

Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells Skeletal muscle is derived from embryonic mesoderm. To date, at least three populations of skeletal muscle stem cells have been identified: satellite cells, cells in the wall of the dorsal aorta, and so-called "side population" cells. Satellite cells mediate muscle growth

Adult Stem Cell Plasticity It was not until recently that anyone seriously considered the possibility that stem cells in adult tissues could generate the specialized cell types of another type of tissue from which they normally reside—either a tissue derived from the same embryonic germ layer or from a different germ layer (

Adult Stem Cell Plasticity For example, studies have shown that blood stem cells (derived from mesoderm) may be able to generate both skeletal muscle (also derived from mesoderm) and neurons (derived from ectoderm). (

Can any adult cell be induced to revert to being a stem cell? Recent research with Drosophila (the fruit fly) in the lab has accomplished this (

Potential Uses of Stem Cells Already used to treat certain diseases Provide information about and treatments for genetic diseases Provide information about and treatments for cancers Treat diseases in which normal cells become defective – e.g. neurons in Parkinson’s disease