Entest signs letter of intent to buy three more animal hospitals
San Diego – Entest BioMedical,
a company developing an immunotherapeutic cancer treatment for dogs, signed a letter of intent to buy three veterinary
hospitals in Orange County...
Working with adult stem cells is ethically inoffensive and they cause nearly no side-effects. Many different diseases
can be healed or helped with adult stem cells.
The important advantage is that the normal physiological processes
that were destroyed by a disease like stroke may actually be reconstructed through the use of adult stem cells.
This
video shows how in Copenhagen, adult stem cells are already being put to good use to help men and women live better and longer
lives.
What are stem cells? Stem cells are small and round cells capable of renewing themselves via cell division and differentiating
into a variety of specialized cell types. The two main types of mammalian stem cells are embryonic stem cells that are isolated
from the inner cell mass of blastocyst, and adult stem cells that are found in adult tissues or organs. Adult stem cells
function as an internal repair system for the body, replenish specialized cells, but also maintain the normal turnover of
regenerative organs, such as blood, skin or intestinal tissues. The origins of adult stem cells mainly include umbilical
cord blood, bone marrow, peripheral blood and adipose tissue.
1. Umbilical cord blood stem cells Umbilical
cord blood is super rich in hematopoietic stem cells that have the capability to differentiate into diverse blood cells and
immune cells. Cord blood hematopoietic stem cell transplants are routinely used to treat leukemia and other disorders of
the blood and immune systems. To date six thousand patients worldwide have been treated with cord blood stem cell transplants.
Recently, researchers have found that stem cells from cord blood appear to be able to grow into other kinds of cells, such
as muscle, blood vessels, and bone. Potentially cord blood stem cells may replace a wider range of cells and tissues than
ever.
2. Bone marrow stem cells Bone marrow contains at least two types of stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells
that are capable of developing into many different blood cells in the body, and bone marrow stromal cells, also called mesenchymal
stem cells, that can generate bone, cartilage, fat, and cells that support the formation of blood, and fibrous connective
tissue. Bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells have been used for transplant in the clinic for decades.
3. Peripheral
blood stem cells Under normal conditions, hematopoietic stem cells are rarely seen in the blood stream.Upon administration
of recombinant colony-forming factors such as granulocyte colony forming factor (G-CSF), hematopoietic stem cells can be
mobilized into the peripheral blood and collected for transplantation.
4. Adipose-derived stem cells Adipose-derived
stem cells are mesenchymal stem cells contained in fat tissue and harvested from liposuction material. Similar to other origins
of mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells possess the capability to differentiate into different cell types.
Recent studies demonstrate that adipose-derived stem cells are immuno-priviledged cells that may be utilized for cell therapies
in HLA-incompatible hosts. Therefore adipose-derived stem cells represent an excellent source for autologous and potentially
allogeneic cell therapies.
