Embryonic stem cells represent a pluripotent population of cells capable of self-renewal, large-scale expansion, and differentiation in various cell lineages including cells of hematopoietic lineage. In this chapter, we describe a three-step cell culture method for directed di ...
Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) have the potential to treat a wide range of diseases. Currently, the use of existing hESC lines in human clinical applications is limited, as they are derived from blastocysts subjected to immunosurgery with animal derived antibodies, and are maintained on m ...
The main objective of cell bioengineering is to generate customized tissues that allow recovering the lost functions in the organism in the absence of immune rejection. Although the possibility of in vitro generation of entire organs is technically very complex, obtaining specific cell ...
In this chapter, we introduce a co-culture protocol for human embryonic stem (hES) cell differentiation in which opamine (DA) neurons with midbrain-specific markers are efficiently derived. Human ES cells on a feeder layer of stromal cells are induced to differentiate into neuroepithe ...
The central nervous system (CNS) is composed of multiple cell types formed through a process of lineage commitment and phenotypic differentiation of stem-like progenitor cells into three key cell types: neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. The ability to isolate and culture th ...
The clinical goal of tissue engineering is to restore, repair, or replace damaged tissues in the body. Significant advances have been made in recent years using stem cells as a cell source for cartilage tissue engineering and reconstructive surgery applications. Embryonic stem cells have d ...
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have the ability to self-replicate and differentiate into cells from all three embryonic germ layers, thereby holding great promise for tissue regeneration applications. However, controlling the differentiation of hESCs and obtaining homog ...
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst. Due to their unique properties, hESCs might be used for research fields such as self-renewal, specific lineage differentiation, human developmental biology, and teratolo ...
Freeze storage of human embryonic stem (hES) cells has not proven effective using the methods employed for mouse ES (mES) cells, while rhesus ES (rhES) cells are only modestly effectively frozen using common mES cell methods. Because human and rhES cells are passaged and frozen in clusters that ap ...
This chapter deals with basic techniques of scanning and transmission electron microscopy applicable to stem cell imaging. It is sometimes desirable to characterize the fine structure of embryonic and adult stem cells to supplement the images obtained by phase-contrast and confocal ...
The pluripotent nature of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is based on their potential to form every cell type in the body. Prior to use in directed differentiation strategies, these cells need to be thoroughly characterized. The large number of glycoproteins and carbohydrates that exist on ...
Differentiated cell types derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) may serve in the future to treat various human diseases and to model early human embryonic development in vitro. Fulfilling this potential, however, requires extensive development of methods and reagents for st ...
The primary characteristics of adult stem cells are maintaining prolonged quiescence, ability to self-renew and plasticity to differentiate into multiple cell types. These properties are evolutionarily conserved from fruit fly to humans. Similar to normal tissue repair in organ ...
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory RNAs varying in length between 20 and 24 nucleotides. They are thought to play a key role during development by negative gene regulation at the post-transcriptional level. Recent studies using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) and n ...
The use of embryonic and adult stem cells as therapeutic agents is gaining momentum. A major impediment in the use of stem cells for genetic disorders is their ability to undergo genetic modification. The recognition of various site-specific integration methods open up a new avenue for gene the ...
Natural killer cells play an important role in innate immunity. They act against infected and transformed cells as part of the immune surveillance process. Their interactions with the human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) create a situation where they may act against donor hematopoietic cel ...
Stem cell migration/trafficking is a field of interest that is shared by pathologists, histologists, clinical transplantation teams, cardiologists, neurologists, and many other members of different disciplines. Until the findings of a successful combination of in situ methods, ...
Monitoring of minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with acute or chronic myeloid disorders is routinely performed after allogeneic or autologous transplantation. The detection of MRD helps to identify patients who are at high risk for leukemic relapse after transplantation. ...
Molecular surveillance of hematopoietic chimerism has become part of the routine diagnostic program in patients after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Chimerism testing permits early prediction and documentation of successful engraftment, and facilitates early d ...
Intensified treatments aimed at maximal tumor reduction are an important therapeutic option for patients affected by B-cell malignancies. The possibility of obtaining a relevant number of clinical complete remissions after these treatments prompted the application of molec ...