[pic]

Term paper

Stem cell therapy

Irfan manzoor.

Roll no: RP7002B22.

Reg. no: 11000225.

Course: Bsc. Biotech 1.

Lovely professional university

Contents

1. Stem cells and properties. 2-3

2. Stem cell therapy. 5-12

3. Stem cell use in animals 13-15

4. Recent researches in stem cell therapy 16-19

5. Conclusion 21

6. Bibliography 22

Stem cells

Stem cells are cells found in all multi cellular organisms. They are characterized by the ability to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types. Research in the stem cell field grew out of findings by Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till at the University of Toronto in the 1960s.
The two broad types of mammalian stem cells are: embryonic stem cells that are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells that are found in adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all of the specialized embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells, but also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin, or intestinal tissues.
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. 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 Properties
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.

Self-renewal
Two mechanisms exist to ensure that the stem cell population is maintained: 1. 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 2. 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.
Potency
Pluripotent, embryonic stem cells originate as inner mass cells within a blastocyst. The stem cells can become any tissue in the body, excluding a placenta. Only the morula's cells are totipotent, able to become all tissues and a place
Potency specifies the differentiation potential (the potential to differentiate into different cell types) of the stem cell. • Totipotent stem cells can differentiate into embryonic and extraembryonic cell types. Such cells can construct a complete, viable, organism. These cells are produced from the fusion of an egg and sperm cell. Cells produced by the first few divisions of the fertilized egg are also totipotent. • Pluripotent stem cells are the descendants of totipotent cells and can differentiate into nearly all cells, i.e. cells derived from any of the three germ layers. • Multipotent stem cells can differentiate into a number of cells, but only those of a closely related family of cells. • Oligopotent stem cells can differentiate into only a few cells, such as lymphoid or myeloid stem cells. • Unipotent cells can produce only one cell type, their own, but have the property of self-renewal which distinguishes them from non-stem cells (e.g. muscle stem cells).

Stem cell therapy
Stem cell treatments are a type of intervention strategy that introduces new cells into damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury. Many medical researchers believe that stem cell treatments have the potential to change the face of human disease and alleviate suffering. The ability of stem cells to self-renew and give rise to subsequent generations with variable degrees of differentiation capacities, offers significant potential for generation of tissues that can potentially replace diseased and damaged areas in the body, with minimal risk of rejection and side effects.
A number of stem cell therapeutics exist, but most are at experimental stages and/or costly, with the notable exception of bone marrow transplantation. Medical researchers anticipate that adult and embryonic stem cells will soon be able to treat cancer, Type 1 diabetes mellitus, Parkinson's disease, disease, Celiac Disease, cardiac failure, muscle damage and neurological disorders, and many others. Nevertheless, before stem cell therapeutics can be applied in the clinical setting, more research is necessary to understand stem cell behavior upon transplantation as well as the mechanisms of stem cell interaction with the diseased/injured microenvironment.
Potential treatments by stem cell therapy
Brain damage
Stroke and traumatic brain injury lead to cell death, characterized by a loss of neurons and oligodendrocytes within the brain. Healthy adult brains contain neural stem cells which divide to maintain general stem cell numbers, or become progenitor cells. In healthy adult animals, progenitor cells migrate within the brain and function primarily to maintain neuron populations for olfaction (the sense of smell). Interestingly, in pregnancy and after injury, this system appears to be regulated by growth factors and can increase the rate at which new brain matter is formed. Although the reparative process appears to initiate following trauma to the brain, substantial recovery is rarely observed in adults, suggesting a lack of robustness.
Stem cells may also be used to treat brain degeneration, such as in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

Cancer
Research injecting neural (adult) stem cells into the brains of dogs has shown to be very successful in treating cancerous tumors. Using conventional techniques, brain cancer is difficult to treat because it spreads so rapidly. Researchers at the Harvard Medical School transplanted human neural stem cells into the brain of rodents that received intracranial tumours. Within days, the cells migrated into the cancerous area and produced cytosine deaminase, an enzyme that converts a non-toxic pro-drug into a chemotheraputic agent. As a result, the injected substance was able to reduce the tumor mass by 81 percent. The stem cells neither differentiated nor turned tumorigenic. Some researchers believe that the key to finding a cure for cancer is to inhibit proliferation of cancer stem cells. Accordingly, current cancer treatments are designed to kill cancer cells. However, conventional chemotherapy treatments cannot discriminate between cancerous cells and others. Stem cell therapies may serve as potential treatments for cancer. Spinal cord injury
A team of Korean researchers reported on November 25, 2003, that they had transplanted multipotent adult stem cells from umbilical cord blood to a patient suffering from a spinal cord injury and that following the procedure, she could walk on her own, without difficulty. The patient had not been able to stand up for roughly 19 years. For the unprecedented clinical test, the scientists isolated adult stem cells from umbilical cord blood and then injected them into the damaged part of the spinal cord.
According to the October 7, 2005 issue of The Week, University of California, Irvine researchers transplanted multipotent human fetal-derived neural stem cells into paralyzed mice, resulting in locomotor improvements four months later. The observed recovery was associated with differentiation of transplanted cells into new neurons and oligodendrocytes- the latter of which forms the myelin sheath around axons of the central nervous system, thus insulating neural impulses and facilitating communication with the brain.
In January 2005, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison differentiated human blastocyst stem cells into neural stem cells, then into pre-mature motor neurons, and finally into spinal motor neurons, the cell type that, in the human body, transmits messages from the brain to the spinal cord and subsequently mediates motor function in the periphery. The newly generated motor neurons exhibited electrical activity, the signature action of neurons. Lead researcher Su-Chun Zhang described the process as "teaching the blastocyst stem cells to change step by step, where each step has different conditions and a strict window of time."
Transformation of blastocyst stem cells into motor neurons had eluded researchers for decades. While Zhang's findings were a significant contribution to the field, the ability of transplanted neural cells to establish communication with neighboring cells remains unclear. Accordingly, studies using chicken embryos as a model organism can be an effective proof-of-concept experiment. If functional, the new cells could be used to treat diseases like Lou Gehrig's disease, muscular dystrophy, and spinal cord injuries. Heart damage
Several clinical trials targeting heart disease have shown that adult stem cell therapy is safe, effective, and equally efficient in treating old and recent infarcts. Adult stem cell therapy for treating heart disease was commercially available in at least five continents at the last count (2007).
Possible mechanisms of recovery include: • Generation of heart muscle cells • Stimulation of growth of new blood vessels to repopulate damaged heart tissue • Secretion of growth factors • Assistance via some other mechanism
It may be possible to have adult bone marrow cells differentiate into heart muscle cells. Haematopoiesis (blood cell formation)
The specificity of the human immune cell repertoire is what allows the human body to defend itself from rapidly adapting antigens. However, the immune system is vulnerable to degradation upon the pathogenesis of disease, and because of the critical role that it plays in overall defense, its degradation is often fatal to the organism as a whole. Diseases of hematopoietic cells are called hematopathology. The specificity of the immune cells is what allows recognition of foreign antigens, causing further challenges in the treatment of immune disease. Identical matches between donor and recipient must be made for successful transplantation treatments, but matches are uncommon, even between first-degree relatives. Research using both hematopoietic adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells has provided insight into the possible mechanisms and methods of treatment for many of these ailments.
Fully mature human red blood cells may be generated ex vivo by hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are precursors of red blood cells. In this process, HSCs are grown together with stromal cells, creating an environment that mimics the conditions of bone marrow, the natural site of red blood cell growth. Erythropoietin, a growth factor, is added, coaxing the stem cells to complete terminal differentiation into red blood cells. Further research into this technique should have potential benefits to gene therapy, blood transfusion, and topical medicine. Baldness
Hair follicles also contain stem cells, and some researchers predict research on these follicle stem cells may lead to successes in treating baldness through "hair multiplication", also known as "hair cloning". This treatment is expected to work by taking stem cells from existing follicles, multiplying them in culture, and implanting the new follicles back into the scalp. Later treatments may be able to simply signal follicle stem cells to give off chemical signals to nearby follicle cells which have shrunk during the aging process, which in turn respond to these signals by regenerating and once again making healthy hair. Missing teeth
In 2004, scientists at King's College London discovered a way to cultivate a complete tooth in mice and were able to grow them stand-alone in the laboratory. Researchers are confident that this technology can be used to grow live teeth in human patients.
In theory, stem cells taken from the patient could be coaxed in the lab into turning into a tooth bud which, when implanted in the gums, will give rise to a new tooth, and would be expected to grow within two months. It will fuse with the jawbone and release chemicals that encourage nerves and blood vessels to connect with it. The process is similar to what happens when humans grow their original adult teeth.
Many challenges remain, however, before stem cells could be a choice for the replacement of missing teeth in the future. Deafness
Heller has reported success in re-growing cochlea hair cells with the use of embryonic stem cells. Blindness and vision impairment
Since 2003, researchers have successfully transplanted corneal stem cells into damaged eyes to restore vision. Using embryonic stem cells, scientists are able to grow a thin sheet of totipotent stem cells in the laboratory. When these sheets are transplanted over the damaged cornea, the stem cells stimulate renewed repair, eventually restore vision. The latest such development was in June 2005, when researchers at the Queen Victoria Hospital of Sussex, England were able to restore the sight of forty patients using the same technique. The group, led by Dr. Sheraz Daya, was able to successfully use adult stem cells obtained from the patient, a relative, or even a cadaver. Further rounds of trials are ongoing.
In April 2005, doctors in the UK transplanted corneal stem cells from an organ donor to the cornea of Deborah Catlyn, a woman who was blinded in one eye when acid was thrown in her eye at a nightclub. The cornea, which is the transparent window of the eye, is a particularly suitable site for transplants. In fact, the first successful human transplant was a cornea transplant. The absence of blood vessels within the cornea makes this area a relatively easy target for transplantation. The majority of corneal transplants carried out today are due to a degenerative disease called keratoconus.
The University Hospital of New Jersey reports that the success rate for growth of new cells from transplanted stem cells varies from 25 percent to 70 percent.
In 2009, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical center demonstrated that stem cells collected from human corneas can restore transparency without provoking a rejection response in mice with corneal damage. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Stem cells have resulted in significant locomotor improvements in rats with an Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-like disease. In a rodent model that closely mimics the human form of ALS, animals were injected with a virus to kill the spinal cord motor nerves which mediate movement. Animals subsequently received stem cells in the spinal cord. Transplanted cells migrated to the sites of injury, contributed to regeneration of the ablated nerve cells, and restored locomotor function. Neural and behavioral birth defects
| | |

A team of researchers led by Prof. Joseph Yanai were able to reverse learning deficits in the offspring of pregnant mice who were exposed to heroin and the pesticide organophosphate. This was done by direct neural stem cell transplantation into the brains of the offspring. The recovery was almost 100 percent, as shown in behavioral tests that suggested improved to normal behavior and learning scores in animals receiving cell transplantation. On the molecular level, brain chemistry of the treated animals was also restored to normal. Through the work, which was supported by the US National Institutes of Health, the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation and the Israel anti-drug authorities, the researchers discovered that the stem cells worked even in cases where most of the cells died out in the host brain.
The scientists found that before they die the neural stem cells succeed in inducing the host brain to produce large numbers of stem cells which repair the damage. These findings, which answered a major question in the stem cell research community, were published earlier this year in the leading journal, Molecular Psychiatry. Scientists are now developing procedures to administer the neural stem cells in the least invasive way possible - probably via blood vessels, making therapy practical and clinically feasible. Researchers also plan to work on developing methods to take cells from the patient's own body, turn them into stem cells, and then transplant them back into the patient's blood via the blood stream. Aside from decreasing the chances of immunological rejection, the approach will also eliminate the controversial ethical issues involved in the use of stem cells from human embryos. Diabetes
Diabetes patients lose the function of insulin-producing beta cells within the pancreas. Human embryonic stem cells may be grown in cell culture and stimulated to form insulin-producing cells that can be transplanted into the patient.
However, clinical success is highly dependent on the development of the following procedures: • Transplanted cells should proliferate • Transplanted cells should differentiate in a site-specific manner • Transplanted cells should survive in the recipient (prevention of transplant rejection) • Transplanted cells should integrate within the targeted tissue • Transplanted cells should integrate into the host circuitry and restore function Orthopaedics
Clinical case reports in the treatment of orthopaedic conditions have been reported. To date, the focus in the literature for musculoskeletal care appears to be on mesenchymal stem cells. Centeno et al. have published MRI evidence of increased cartilage and meniscus volume in individual human subjects. The results of trials that include a large number of subjects, are yet to be published. However, a published safety study conducted in a group of 227 patients over a 3-4 year period shows adequate safety and minimal complications associated with mesenchymal cell transplantation.
Wakitani has also published a small case series of nine defects in five knees involving surgical transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells with coverage of the treated chondral defects. Wound healing
Stem cells can also be used to stimulate the growth of human tissues. In an adult, wounded tissue is most often replaced by scar tissue, which is characterized in the skin by disorganized collagen structure, loss of hair follicles and irregular vascular structure. In the case of wounded fetal tissue, however, wounded tissue is replaced with normal tissue through the activity of stem cells. A possible method for tissue regeneration in adults is to place adult stem cell "seeds" inside a tissue bed "soil" in a wound bed and allow the stem cells to stimulate differentiation in the tissue bed cells. This method elicits a regenerative response more similar to fetal wound-healing than adult scar tissue formation. Researchers are still investigating different aspects of the "soil" tissue that are conducive to regeneration. Infertility
Culture of human embryonic stem cells in mitotically inactivated porcine ovarian fibroblasts (POF) causes differentiation into germ cells (precursor cells of oocytes and spermatozoa), as evidenced by gene expression analysis.
Human embryonic stem cells have been stimulated to form Spermatozoon-like cells, yet still slightly damaged or malformed. It could potentially treat azoospermia. Clinical Trials
On January 23, 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration gave clearance to Geron Corporation for the initiation of the first clinical trial of an embryonic stem cell-based therapy on humans. The trial will evaluate the drug GRNOPC1, embryonic stem cell-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, on patients with acute spinal cord injury.

Stem cell use in animals Veterinary applications
Potential contributions to veterinary medicine

Research currently conducted on horses, dogs, and cats can benefit the development of stem-cell treatments in veterinary medicine and can target a wide range of injuries and diseases such as myocardial infarction, stroke, tendon and ligament damage, osteoarthritis, osteochondrosis and muscular dystrophy both in large animals, as well as human. While investigation of cell-based therapeutics generally reflects human medical needs, the high degree of frequency and severity of certain injuries in racehorses has put veterinary medicine at the forefront of this novel regenerative approach. Companion animals can serve as clinically relevant models that closely mimic human disease.

Development of regenerative treatment models
Veterinary applications of stem cell therapy as a means of tissue regeneration have been largely shaped by research that began with the use of adult-derived mesenchymal stem cells to treat animals with injuries or defects affecting bone, cartilage, ligaments and/or tendons. Because mesenchymal stem cells can differentiate into the cells that make up bone, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments (as well as muscle, fat, and possibly other tissues), they have been the main type of stem cells studied in the treatment of diseases affecting these tissues. Mesenchymal stem cells are primarily derived from adipose tissue or bone marrow. Since an elevated immune response following cell transplantation may result in rejection of exogenous cells (except in the case of cells derived from a very closely genetically related individual), mesenchymal stem cells are often derived from the patient prior to injection in a process known as autologous transplantation. Surgical repair of bone fractures in dogs and sheep has demonstrated that engraftment of mesenchymal stem cells derived from a genetically different donor within the same species, termed allogeneic transplantation, does not elicit an immunological response in the recipient animal and can mediate regeneration of bone tissue in major bony fractures and defects. Stem cells can speed up bone repair in fractures/defects that would normally require extensive grafting, suggesting that mesenchymal stem cell use may provide a useful alternative to conventional grafting techniques. Treating tendon and ligament injuries in horses using stem cells, whether derived from adipose tissue or bone-marrow, has support in the veterinary literature. While further studies are necessary to fully characterize the use of cell-based therapeutics for treatment of bone fractures, stem cells are thought to mediate repair via five primary mechanisms: 1) providing an antiinflammatory effect, 2) homing to damaged tissues and recruiting other cells, such as endothelial progenitor cells, that are necessary for tissue growth, 3) supporting tissue remodeling over scar formation, 4) inhibiting apoptosis, and 5) differentiating into bone, cartilage, tendon, and ligament tissue.

Significance of stem cell microenvironments
The microenvironment into which stem cells are transplanted significantly alters the capacity of engrafted cells for recovery and repair. The microenviroment provides growth factors and other chemical signals that guide appropriate differentiation of transplanted cell populations and direct transplanted cells to sites of trauma or disease. Repair and recovery can then be mediated via three primary mechanisms: 1) formation and/or recruitment of new blood cells to the damaged region; 2) prevention of programed cell death or apoptosis; and 3) suppression of inflammation. To further enrich blood supply to the damaged areas, and consequently promote tissue regeneration, platelet-rich plasma could be used in conjunction with stem cell transplantation. The efficacy of some stem cell populations may also be affected by the method of delivery; for instance, to regenerate bone, stem cells are often introduced in a scaffold where they produce the minerals necessary for generation of functional bone.

Sources of autologous (patient-derived) stem cells
Autologous stem cells intended for regenerative therapy are generally isolated either from the patient's bone marrow or from adipose tissue. The number of stem cells transplanted into damaged tissue may alter efficacy of treatment. Accordingly, stem cells derived from bone marrow aspirates, for instance, are cultured in specialized laboratories for expansion to millions of cells. Although adipose-derived tissue also requires processing prior to use, the culturing methodology for adipose-derived stem cells is not as extensive as that for bone marrow-derived cells. While it is thought that bone-marrow derived stem cells are preferred for bone, cartilage, ligament, and tendon repair, others believe that the less challenging collection techniques and the multi-cellular microenvironment already present in adipose-derived stem cell fractions make the latter the preferred source for autologous transplantation.

Currently Available Treatments for Horses and Dogs Suffering from Orthopedic Conditions

Autologous or allogeneic stem cells are currently used as an adjunctive therapy in the surgical repair of some types of fractures in dogs and horses. Autologous stem cell-based treatments for ligament injury, tendon injury, osteoarthritis, osteochondrosis, and sub-chondral bone cysts have been commercially available to practicing veterinarians to treat horses since 2003 in the United States and since 2006 in the United Kingdom. Autologous stem-cell based treatments for tendon injury, ligament injury, and osteoarthritis in dogs have been available to veterinarians in the United States since 2005. Over 3000 privately-owned horses and dogs have been treated with autologous adipose-derived stem cells. The efficacy of these treatments has been shown in double-blind clinical trials for dogs with osteoarthritis of the hip and elbow and horses with tendon damage. The efficacy of using stem cells, whether adipose-derived or bone-marrow derived, for treating tendon and ligament injuries in horses has support in the veterinary literature.

Developments in Stem Cell Treatments in Veterinary Internal Medicine

Currently, research is being conducted to develop stem cell treatments for: 1) horses suffering from COPD, neurologic disease, and laminitis; and 2) dogs and cats suffering from heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, neurologic disease, and immune-mediated disorders

Recent researches in stem cell therapy

Medical researchers believe that stem cell therapy has the potential to dramatically change the treatment of human disease. A number of adult stem cell therapies already exist, particularly bone marrow transplants that are used to treat leukemia. In the future, medical researchers anticipate being able to use technologies derived from stem cell research to treat a wider variety of diseases including cancer, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and muscle damage, amongst a number of other impairments and conditions. However, there still exists a great deal of social and scientific uncertainty surrounding stem cell research, which could possibly be overcome through public debate and future research, and further education of the public.
One concern of treatment is the possible risk that transplanted stem cells could form tumors and have the possibility of becoming cancerous if cell division continues uncontrollably.
Stem cells, however, are already studied extensively. While some scientists are hesitant to associate the therapeutic potential of stem cells as the first goal of the research, they find the investigation of stem cells as a goal worthy in itself.
Contrarily, supporters of embryonic stem cell research argue that such research should be pursued because the resultant treatments could have significant medical potential. It is also noted that excess embryos created for in vitro fertilization could be donated with consent and used for the research.
The recent development of iPS cells has been called a bypass of the legal controversy. Laws limiting the destruction of human embryos have been credited for being the reason for development of iPS cells, but they are less efficient and reliable than natural stem cells. Various methods are being developed to bypass this problem by removing mutation.

Stem cell therapy saves life
Dimitri Bonnville, a 16-year-old who shot himself in the heart with a nail gun, is the world’s first patient to have his damaged heart repaired from stem cells taken from his own blood. The mid-February accident caused him to have a massive heart attack and a Detroit hospital approved the experimental stem cell treatment.

Potential of stem cell therapy

The use of stem cells for research and their possible application in the treatment of disease are hotly debated topics. An international group of medical experts presents an in-depth and balanced view of the rapidly evolving field of stem cell research and considers the potential of harnessing stem cells for therapy of human diseases including cardiovascular diseases, renal failure, neurologic disorders, gastrointestinal diseases, pulmonary diseases, neoplastic diseases, and type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Personalized cell therapies for treating and curing human diseases are the ultimate goal of most stem cell-based research. But apart from the scientific and technical challenges, there are serious ethical concerns, including issues of privacy, consent and withdrawal of consent for the use of unfertilized eggs and embryos.
A group of the world's leading stem cell scientists at the Scripps Research Institute has plumbed the depths of stem cells at a metabolic level and made some fresh discoveries about stem cell differentiation that could ultimately influence the development of new therapeutics.

The only existing medical technology that can regenerate human cells to slow down or stop this process is Stem Cell Transplantation Therapy.
Neuro-degenerative conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis, Glaucoma, Macular Degeneration, Parkinson’s and Muscular Dystrophy are just a few of the diseases that are exacerbated by accelerated deterioration of human cells. Stem Cell Transplantation Therapy (SCTT) is the only known treatment that can initiate new cell growth to help slow the progression of these diseases. Moreover, SCTT has shown to be effective in speeding client-recovery from physical injuries involving cell and tissue damage such as spinal cord injury, stroke, heart muscle damage, serious burns, torn muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Anti-Aging Human Stem Cell Therapy

Stem cell treatment and stem cell gene therapy are leading the way to anti-aging technologies and treatments. Regenerative stem cell therapies are at the forefront of stem cell studies in this type of research, utilizing advanced cellular therapy methodologies to replace damaged or dying cells, which accelerate the aging process.
Such stem cell replacement therapy rely on the transplantation of healthy and vibrant cells that have been isolated and multiplied in an environment outside the body. These stem cells, utilizing adult stem cells, autologous (self) stem cells or umbilical cord stem cells are then injected into the body or skin, depending on need, to supply a healthy source of new cellular growth.
Pre-engineered adult stem cells are often utilized in such research. Adult stem cell therapy or autologous stem cells utilizes a patients own stem cells harvested through a typical blood draw. Patients receive injections of the new cell growth about a week later. The injected adult stem cells then stimulate the regrowth of tissues and cellular structures throughout the body or in specific areas where they are injected.

Stem Cell therapy for osteoarthritis

Scientists from Keele University will study up to 70 people from the end of this year. The trial will take place at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopedic Hospital in Oswestry, Shropshire as part of a 5-year research programme. 3 treatments are being tested in a trial of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
Stem Cell Therapy
Using keyhole surgery, a patient's cartilage cells - also called chondrocytes - and bone marrow stem cells will be taken out and grown in a laboratory for three weeks. They will then be re-implanted separately in some patients, and mixed together in other patients, into the area of damaged or worn cartilage.

The benefit of stem cell treatment is that it's much less invasive as compared to major joint replacement surgeries.

Conclusion
Stem cells form the important foundation which is required by every organ, tissue and cell in the body. Stem cells are unspecialized cells that have two defining properties in them which make them unique and different from all other kinds of cells. It is these very two special but interesting properties which have gone towards making stem cell and stem cell therapy a very interesting topic of study. These two mentioned properties are their ability to differentiate into other cells and their ability to self-regenerate.
Stem cells have in them the inherent property of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods of time. Unlike the case of other types of cells like muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells which do not normally replicate themselves, it is seen that stem cells may replicate many times. This property of stem cells replicating several times allows for their use in stem cell therapy applications. Stem cells can give rise to specialized cells. This important property forms the basis of all stem cell therapy uses. While differentiating, the cell usually goes through several stages, becoming more specialized at each step.
Within the class of stem cells too there are present different types of stem cells. These include embryonic stem cells that exist only at the earliest stages of embryonic development; as embryonic stem cells can form all cell types of the body as a result of which they are referred to as pluripotent stem cells. There are various types of adult or tissue-specific stem cells that exist in a number of different fetal and adult tissues in the body. These stem cells are restrictive to the kind of cells they can further generate and generally can only form a limited number of cell types corresponding with their tissues of origin; they are called multipotent stem cells.
Human stem cell therapy has found several uses over a period of time and is today a major tool in the hand of medical researchers. Studies of human embryonic stem cells have gone forward and yielded enough information about the complex events that occur during human development. Today, towards the use of donated organs and tissues is put to use to replace ailing or destroyed tissue. Stem cells, which owing to their property can be used stem cell therapy, can now offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat diseases including Alzheimers diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, osteoarthritis, heart disease, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Continued attempts to research and develop embryonic stem cell treatments and procedures doesn’t simply mean cloning humans or involve ethical and moral controversies or issues surrounding such research. Millions of cells found in the body can and are being developed for future medicinal treatments.
Stem cells contain precise instructions on how cellular structures duplicate and function.
Each cell is also programmed with how long it’ll live, it’s particular functions and jobs. Stem cells come from different sources. The most ordinarily studied, and used, stem cell cures involve : * Embryonic stem cell care * Adult stem cell treatment and research * Umbilical wire stem cell care Stem cell treatments, and most potentially the potentiality of utilizing embryonic stem cells offer a great number of benefits including though not restricted to enabling cells to migrate to the location of injury or damage for mend or duplication, creating intercellular linkage and differentiation ( progressing into particular cellular structures like muscle tissue, heart tissue, or neural tissues ), additionally, benefits include augmenting immunological reactions and reducing and avoiding tissue and organ refusal. Embryonic stem cell research and development is still the most useful stem cell treatment yet developed by analysts and scientists. Embryonic stem cells are commonly cultivated from dropped fetuses or embryos springing from terminations, and can be made use of to provide life-saving treatments for lots of illness processes and health conditions. Medical Stem Cell Tourism the U. S. doesn’t now approve of stem cells treatment options, but American citizens and other international travelers seek global destinations for promising treatments. Today, thousands of medical holiday makers venture to locations internationally, including China, Thailand, Japan, Europe, and India for treatments that offer favorable and promising results.

Bibliography

1. Guidelines for stem cell therapy by Indian council of medical research.
2. Living cell therapy from biotech.net.
3. Wikipedia.
4. Various research papers from Google.

Thank you