open access

Vol 43, No 4 (2005)
Original paper
Submitted: 2011-12-19
Published online: 2005-12-31
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Nonhematopoietic stem cells of fetal origin--how much of today's enthusiasm will pass the time test?

Zygmunt Pojda, Eugeniusz K Machaj, Tomasz Ołdak, Agnieszka Gajkowska, Marzena Jastrzewska
Folia Histochem Cytobiol 2005;43(4):209-212.

open access

Vol 43, No 4 (2005)
ORIGINAL PAPERS
Submitted: 2011-12-19
Published online: 2005-12-31

Abstract

Stem cells originating at fetal age are for many reasons superior as a material for the regenerative medicine purposes, when compared to their adult counterparts. While hematopoietic cells, isolated from fetal liver or cord blood, have been well known for a long time and have passed practical tests as clinical transplantation material, the non-hematopoietic cells are newly recognized, and the knowledge of their phenotype and differentiation potential is rather insufficient. We, and the others, have identified a subpopulation of cord blood cells phenotypically different from hematopoietic cells (CD34-, CD45-, CD29+, CD44+, CD51+, CD105+, SH-2, SH-3), in vitro plastic adherent, and capable of multilineage differentiation. The other candidates for multipotential stem cells are cells extracted from umbilical cord or placental tissue. The preliminary observations suggest, that these cells, phenotypically similar to the nonhematopoietic cord blood cells, are capable of extensive replication in vitro and of multilineage differentiation into a variety of tissues including cardiac muscle, bone and cartilage, adipocytes, and nerve cells. The other possible medical applications include "rejuvenation" of selected tissues and systems in senile patients, and therapeutical cloning - for both purposes, cells at the fetal stage of genetic regulation may be more useful than cells collected from adult donors. There is still, however, a high level of uncertainty concerning future medical applications of fetal stem cells. Their numbers and characteristics may differ from the preliminary observations, and their behavior in vivo may not fulfill the expectations originating from the in vitro studies. Finally, the autologous applications of stem cells collected at the stage of birth may need the involvement of technical and financial resources for the storage of frozen cell samples throughout the period of life of their potential user. Such procedure seems possible from technical point of view, but may be inadequately substantiated by the eventual advantages.

Abstract

Stem cells originating at fetal age are for many reasons superior as a material for the regenerative medicine purposes, when compared to their adult counterparts. While hematopoietic cells, isolated from fetal liver or cord blood, have been well known for a long time and have passed practical tests as clinical transplantation material, the non-hematopoietic cells are newly recognized, and the knowledge of their phenotype and differentiation potential is rather insufficient. We, and the others, have identified a subpopulation of cord blood cells phenotypically different from hematopoietic cells (CD34-, CD45-, CD29+, CD44+, CD51+, CD105+, SH-2, SH-3), in vitro plastic adherent, and capable of multilineage differentiation. The other candidates for multipotential stem cells are cells extracted from umbilical cord or placental tissue. The preliminary observations suggest, that these cells, phenotypically similar to the nonhematopoietic cord blood cells, are capable of extensive replication in vitro and of multilineage differentiation into a variety of tissues including cardiac muscle, bone and cartilage, adipocytes, and nerve cells. The other possible medical applications include "rejuvenation" of selected tissues and systems in senile patients, and therapeutical cloning - for both purposes, cells at the fetal stage of genetic regulation may be more useful than cells collected from adult donors. There is still, however, a high level of uncertainty concerning future medical applications of fetal stem cells. Their numbers and characteristics may differ from the preliminary observations, and their behavior in vivo may not fulfill the expectations originating from the in vitro studies. Finally, the autologous applications of stem cells collected at the stage of birth may need the involvement of technical and financial resources for the storage of frozen cell samples throughout the period of life of their potential user. Such procedure seems possible from technical point of view, but may be inadequately substantiated by the eventual advantages.
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About this article
Title

Nonhematopoietic stem cells of fetal origin--how much of today's enthusiasm will pass the time test?

Journal

Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica

Issue

Vol 43, No 4 (2005)

Article type

Original paper

Pages

209-212

Published online

2005-12-31

Page views

1496

Article views/downloads

1098

Bibliographic record

Folia Histochem Cytobiol 2005;43(4):209-212.

Authors

Zygmunt Pojda
Eugeniusz K Machaj
Tomasz Ołdak
Agnieszka Gajkowska
Marzena Jastrzewska

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