Abstract
Pluripotent stem cells have the capacity to self renew and to differentiate to cells of the three somatic germ layers that comprise an organism. Embryonic stem cells are the most studied pluripotent stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells have also been derived from adult tissues. Both embryonic and adult stem cells represent valuable sources of cells for applications in cell therapy, drug screening and tissue engineering. While expanding stem cells in culture, it is critical to maintain their self-renewal and differentiation capacity. In generating particular cell types for specific applications, it is important to direct their differentiation to the desired lineage. Challenges in expansion of undifferentiated stem cells for clinical applications include the removal of feeder layers and non-defined components in the culture medium. Our limited basic knowledge on the requirements for maintaining pluripotency of adult pluripotent stem cells and the lack of appropriate markers associated with pluripotency hinders the progress toward their wide spread application. In vitro differentiation of stem cells usually produces a mixed population of different cell lineages with the desired cell type present only at a small proportion. Use of growth factors that promote differentiation, expansion or survival of specific cell types is key in controlling the differentiation towards specific cell lineages. A variety of bioreactors for cell cultivation exist and can be readily adapted for stem cell cultivation and differentiation. They provide a well-controlled environment for studying the process of stem cell propagation and differentiation. Their wide use will facilitate the development of processes for stem cell application.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 12-27 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering |
Volume | 100 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2005 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The work was supported in part by a grant from National Institutes of Health (RO1-1697-636-7470) and F. Ulloa was supported by a scholarship from the National Council for Science and Technology (Mexico). Thanks to Uma Lakshmipathy, C.M. Cameron and Dan S. Kaufman for providing MAPC and hES figures.
Keywords
- Adult stem cell
- Bioreactor
- Embryonic stem cell
- Pluripotent