Adult stem cells, located in tissues like bone marrow and skin, repair and maintain their specific tissues, offering a therapeutic option for certain medical conditions without the ethical issues of embryonic stem cells.
What Are Adult Stem Cells?
Adult stem cells are the body’s natural repair cells, residing in tissues like bone marrow, skin, and fat. These cells are critical for replacing damaged tissues and maintaining organ health.
They differ from embryonic stem cells, which originate from early embryos and can develop into any cell type in the body. In contrast, adult stem cells are typically restricted to forming types of cells found in the tissues where they reside.
Self-Renewal
These cells have the ability to copy themselves repeatedly over extended periods. This capability ensures a stable pool of stem cells to support tissue repair and regeneration as needed. The process is regulated by genes and proteins that control cell division, ensuring that stem cells divide when necessary and remain dormant otherwise.
Multipotency
Adult stem cells can turn into multiple, but limited, cell types associated with their tissue of origin. For example, stem cells in the bone marrow can become various types of blood cells.
The transformation process, known as differentiation, is tightly controlled by both internal and external signals, including chemicals released by nearby cells or mechanical changes in the tissue environment.
These properties are influenced by various factors, including age, health, and the body’s overall condition. Research is ongoing to understand how these influences can be manipulated to enhance the healing properties of adult stem cells, potentially increasing their utility in medical treatments.
Where do Adult Stem Cells come from?
Adult stem cells are located in various tissues, notably bone marrow, peripheral blood, and adipose tissue. Bone marrow is a potent source but extracting it involves a painful, invasive procedure. Conversely, peripheral blood provides stem cells through a less invasive process, although it requires treatments to increase stem cell concentration for effective use.
Each source differs in therapeutic potential. Bone marrow stem cells are primarily used to treat blood-related diseases like leukemia due to their high adaptability in blood cell formation.
Adipose-derived stem cells are studied for their regenerative properties in tissue repair, particularly for orthopedic and wound healing applications. Peripheral blood stem cells need preconditioning with growth factors to achieve therapeutic levels, suitable for similar treatments as bone marrow but with less donor discomfort.
Why Are There Different Types of Adult Stem Cells?
Type of Adult Stem Cell | Location/Source | Potential Applications |
Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) | Bone marrow, blood | Formation of all blood cell types |
Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) | Bone marrow, adipose tissue, other tissues | Differentiation into bone, cartilage, muscle, fat cells |
Neural Stem Cells | Brain, spinal cord | Production of neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes |
Epithelial Stem Cells | Skin, intestines, airways | Regeneration of skin cells and other epithelial cells |
Endothelial Stem Cells | Bone marrow, bloodstream | Formation of blood vessels |
Adipose-derived Stem Cells | Adipose (fat) tissue | Various regenerative medicine applications |
Peripheral Blood Stem Cells | Bloodstream | Treatments for blood disorders |
Olfactory Adult Stem Cells | Olfactory bulb | Potential brain repair applications |
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) | Adult cells (genetically reprogrammed) | Can differentiate into any cell type |
Why Adult Stem Cells Are Crucial for Your Body’s Repair and Maintenance
Adult stem cells are essential for repairing and maintaining your body. They replenish tissues by replacing damaged or aged cells, which is vital for your health and recovery from injuries.
Take hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow, for example. They continuously produce new blood cells, crucial for immune defense and replacing old cells. Epithelial stem cells in the skin respond to cuts or burns by generating new skin layers, facilitating rapid repair.
These cells are activated by damage signals, ensuring they respond precisely when needed. However, their ability to repair is limited to their specific tissue type — blood stem cells won’t help repair skin. A failure in these cells’ functions can lead to slow healing and increased susceptibility to diseases, underscoring their importance in maintaining health.
The Power of Adult Stem Cells
Adult stem cells are not just a medical marvel; they’re a treatment revolution for diseases like leukemia and heart failure. They differentiate into necessary cells, directly repairing tissues such as blood or heart muscle.
Consider hematopoietic stem cells used in bone marrow transplants—a proven therapy that has dramatically increased survival rates for leukemia patients. Similarly, mesenchymal stem cells have shown promise in heart repair post-heart attack, significantly improving heart function in clinical trials.
These therapies, while groundbreaking, come with their challenges. Success hinges on precise matches between donor and recipient, especially in transplants to avoid complications like rejection. And while mesenchymal stem cell treatments for cardiac repair are promising, they are still not universally available and carry risks of inflammation or infection.
There are over 3,000 clinical studies in progress investigating the use of adult stem cells for treating debilitating diseases like MS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, andcombating aging itself. Within the next decade, many of these stem cell technologies could be approved and widely adopted for the treatment and prevention of disease. However, these technologies require highly functional stem cells, and the potency of human stem cells diminishes with age. Autologous stem cell banking at Tomarrow enables people to preserve their stem cells in their youthful, most viable state, which provides an unparalleled opportunity to capitalize on future advancements in stem cell technology for treating disease and combating aging. Visit Ossium's tomarrowbank.com to learn more. Kevin Caldwell, CEO & Co-Founder, Ossium Health
Adult vs Embryonic Stem Cells
Adult and embryonic stem cells serve different roles in medicine due to their inherent capabilities and ethical implications. Embryonic stem cells hold the promise of unlimited differentiation, making them potentially invaluable for curing complex diseases such as Alzheimer’s and type 1 diabetes.
However, their use involves creating and destroying embryos, a practice fraught with ethical concerns that have led to tight regulations in countries like the U.S. and many in Europe.
In contrast, adult stem cells are less versatile but more ethically palatable, derived from tissues such as bone marrow or adipose tissue without harming the donor. This has made them more acceptable to regulators and helped ease the path for treatments like bone marrow transplants for leukemia or tissue repair therapies following injuries. Nowadays they are even used to treat Autism in kids.
These regulatory landscapes are shaped by both ethical viewpoints and scientific advancements. While embryonic stem cells are often restricted or banned, adult stem cell research enjoys broader support, facilitating quicker movement from lab research to clinical trials and treatments.
Embryonic stem cells theoretically top the power scale—they can become any cell type, offering vast potential for treating a broad range of diseases. Their ability to morph into any human tissue makes them invaluable for future medicine, potentially regenerating anything from heart tissues to neural pathways.
While embryonic stem cells offer more potential power, adult stem cells are the ones making a real difference in medicine right now.
This perspective keeps the explanation non-technical, emphasizing practicality over potential, and directly addresses the interests of readers who aren’t healthcare professionals.
New Alternative: Human Trophoblast Stem Cells (hTSCs)
Human Trophoblast Stem Cells (hTSCs) present several significant benefits that make them an excellent choice for stem cell research and therapeutic uses.
Derived from the pre-placental tissue of ectopic pregnancies—where the embryo implants outside the uterus—hTSCs provide an ethically viable alternative to traditional embryonic stem cells, which often involve ethical controversies due to how they are obtained.
These cells are not only ethical but also scalable, as they can be grown in large quantities, essential for extensive testing and potential widespread clinical applications without the constraint of limited cell availability.
I have the only early embryonic-stage stem cells without any ethical issues. Our human Trophoblast Stem Cells (hTSCs) are sourced from the pre-placental tissue of an ectopic pregnancy. It has the holy grail characteristics of scale AND immune privilege. See my presentation from ARM Meeting on the Med in Rome fromthis past April. We have just successfully presented our collaboration with the NIH at Longevity Summit Dublin and at ARDD in Copenhagen. Yuta Lee | Founder & CEO, Accelerated Biosciences
Limitations of Adult Stem Cells
• Restricted Plasticity
• Therapeutic Cloning Challenges
• Narrow Treatment Scope
• Research Limitations
• Clinical Application Delays
Why Choose Adult Stem Cells?
Adult stem cells are leading the way in medical treatments thanks to their practical and ethical advantages. They avoid ethical issues because they’re harvested from the patient’s own body (like from bone marrow or fat) or from willing donors, not from embryos, dodging the moral debates that surround embryonic stem cells.
The risk of immune rejection is also minimized with adult stem cells. When cells are transplanted from the same body or a closely matched donor, the patient’s immune system is more likely to accept them, preventing rejection that could lead to treatment failure.
Their track record of success is impressive. For instance, bone marrow transplants have been a staple in treating blood diseases for over fifty years. More recently, adult stem cells have repaired heart tissues post-heart attack and have been used in innovative therapies to heal knee injuries without invasive surgery, consistently demonstrating their safety and effectiveness.
When Are Adult Stem Cells Right for You?
• Diagnosed with Certain Conditions
• Seeking Less Invasive Options
• Comfortable with the Source
• In Need of Long-Term Solutions
• Supported by Your Healthcare Provider
• Ready for Experimental Treatments
The Future of Adult Stem Cells
Adult stem cells are pivotal in next-generation medical breakthroughs, with research driving their capabilities beyond traditional boundaries. For example, a 2020 study at the University of California, San Francisco, showed that modifying adult stem cells with CRISPR gene-editing technology enhanced their ability to regenerate damaged liver tissue in mice.
This represents a significant step toward using these cells in more complex organ regeneration.
Further advancements include 3D bioprinting, where a recent trial highlighted the use of adult stem cells to print bone structures that successfully integrated into patient bodies, with over 90% success in preliminary surgeries. This innovation could lead to custom-tailored organ replacements in the future.
Looking ahead, gene therapy combined with adult stem cells is making strides. In 2021, researchers at Johns Hopkins used genetically enhanced adult stem cells to treat severe osteoarthritis in over 200 patients, reducing pain and improving joint function by up to 75% within six months.
Small Mobile Stem (SMS) Cells: A Breakthrough in Regenerative Medicine
Small Mobile Stem (SMS) cells are a novel type of adult human stem cell discovered by SMSbiotech. These cells are unique in their mechanism of action: they strongly bind to and activate other human stem cells and progenitor cells. This interaction stimulates the patient’s own cells to regenerate damaged tissues, ensuring that the new tissue is pertinent to the host and not derived from the allogeneic SMS cells. SMS cells demonstrate potency even after many passages and possess unique angiogenic properties, promoting the formation of new blood vessels essential for healing.
Their small size and extraordinary resilience allow for unique administration methods, such as inhalation directly into the lungs.
SMS cells are unique in their mechanism of action, as they strongly bind to and activate other stem cells within the body. The tissue they help create is highly compatible with the patient, without the complications that can arise from donor cells. Moreover, SMS cells maintain their effectiveness over many uses and possess remarkable properties that promote the formation of new blood vessels. Their small size and resilience make it possible to deliver them directly to the lungs via inhalation. Dr. A. Rahmo, PhD | President & CSO Smsbiotech
This makes SMS cells particularly promising for treating chronic lung diseases like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
Unlike other stem cells, SMS cells target multiple different cells significant to tissue regeneration and have a strong safety profile due to their minimal expression of histocompatibility proteins.
Ethically sourced from adult human tissues, they offer a robust and practical approach to healing by activating the body’s natural repair mechanisms, opening new avenues for treating a range of degenerative diseases.
Conclusion
Adult stem cells are your body’s built-in repair system, primarily sourced from tissues like bone marrow, skin, and fat. Unlike embryonic stem cells, which can develop into any cell type but come with ethical baggage, adult stem cells provide a more acceptable solution with minimal immune rejection risks. They are essential for treating diseases like leukemia and repairing tissue damage, relying on their abilities to self-renew and turn into multiple related cell types.
Recent research has expanded the applications of adult stem cells, with breakthroughs such as gene-editing to enhance their regeneration potential and 3D bioprinting for creating body tissues. Notably, advancements in gene therapy have already improved treatments for conditions like severe osteoarthritis, showing a significant reduction in pain and enhancement in function.
However, adult stem cells have their limitations. They lack the broader versatility of embryonic stem cells, particularly in therapeutic cloning, due to their restricted transformation capabilities. Despite these challenges, adult stem cells are pivotal in today’s medical treatments and are increasingly central in emerging therapies.
If you’re considering stem cell therapy, you should weigh factors like your specific health condition, your personal ethics concerning stem cell sources, and the medical advice from your healthcare provider. With ongoing research promising to unlock even more applications, adult stem cells are set to play a crucial role in the future of medicine, offering new hope for many challenging medical conditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which are sources of adult stem cells?
Adult stem cells can be derived from several tissues, including bone marrow, peripheral blood, and adipose (fat) tissue.
How to activate adult repair stem cells?
Adult repair stem cells can be activated by signals from the body in response to injury or disease, signaling the need for tissue repair or regeneration.
Which of the following is not true of adult stem cells?
Adult stem cells can differentiate into any cell type in the body. (This is not true; they are generally limited to types related to their tissue of origin.)
What ethical issues could arise from using embryonic cells as opposed to adult stem cells?
Using embryonic stem cells involves ethical concerns related to the destruction of embryos, which is not an issue with adult stem cells derived from consenting donors or the patient’s own body.
What is the process of using adult stem cells to treat a specific disease?
The process typically involves harvesting stem cells from an appropriate source, manipulating them in the lab if necessary, and then transplanting them back into the patient’s body to repair damaged tissues or treat disease.
Which of the following processes is used to convert adult cells into pluripotent stem cells (iPS)?
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are created by reprogramming adult cells through the introduction of specific genes that revert them to a stem cell-like state, capable of differentiating into any cell type.
What is the biggest disadvantage of using adult stem cells for medical treatments?
The biggest disadvantage is their limited differentiation potential compared to embryonic stem cells, restricting their ability to regenerate diverse types of tissues.