Stem cells and its clinical applications

Abstract

The concept of stem cells was introduced by Alexander Maximow in the year 1909. Stem cells comprise of "primitive cells" that have the ability to divide indefinitely and give rise to specialized cells under specific conditions. Because of these two distinct characteristics they have received particular attention in recent decades. Stem cells have very potent clinical application in treating cardiovascular, pulmonary, spinal cord, skin, burns and wounds, gynaecological and orthopaedic disorders. Stem cells have proven to be a very good source for treating thin endometrium that could be one of the factors for infertility in women. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) improve vascular blood supply and incorporated into neovessels at sites of damage and significantly improved blood flow. EPCs regenerate the endometrial epithelium with its vascularity and make it mature enough for implantation. Recent findings suggest that ovaries contain stem cells which form new oocytes in adulthood and these can be cultured in-vitro to form mature oocytes. These findings provide new hope for fertility preservation. Even the advances in the technology has achieved to develop germ cells from pluripotent stem cells through iPS. Currently there are limited established clinical application though the research is going on using different type of cells for various different clinical conditions.