Біологічні науки/10. Генетика і цитологія

або /11. Біоінженерія і біоінформатика

Inna Bogaichuk

Department of Biomedical Engineering, NTUU ‘KPI’

HEALTH AND SOCIETAL BENEFITS

PRESENTED BY STEM CELL RESEARCH

Stem cell research is a field that has generated much activity in laboratories, media offices and higher courts. Parallel to the potential new treatments for incurable diseases and opportunities for bioentrepreneurs, heated ethical and legal debates have arisen around the world. This compilation of information illustrates valuable track record in the area of stem cell research and highlights the need to continue to fund this research so that its full potential can be realised. Stem cell research holds a strong potential to deliver new treatments for serious diseases and injuries for which today few effective treatments exist. Great hope is invested in this field by researchers, based on the expectation that we will learn how to replace damaged cells in patients with new, healthy cells grown or produced in the lab, or by inducing organ regeneration from stem cells in the body. The field has attracted priority status in many countries and has advanced rapidly. Indeed, some basic research findings are now being translated into new treatments. Furthermore, new drugs are identified and tested, and potentially, the way that cells can be generated in the lab. Stem cells, whether they occur in the body or in the lab, are defined by two cardinal properties: they can self-renew (generate perfect copies of themselves upon division) and differentiate (produce specialized cell types that perform specific functions in the body).

Figure 1. Stem cells and their types

The promise of stem cells as new tools for benefiting human health resides in these twin properties that, in principle, allow production of unlimited quantities of defined cell types (e.g., for use in drug screening or transplantation). Stem cell research has the potential to improve and accelerate drug screening, drug discovery, and pre-clinical toxicological assessment of new drugs. Controlled differentiation of human pluripotent cells and/or ex vivo expansion of human tissue stem cells could produce unlimited supplies of defined human cell types. Once developed, this technology should permit screening of more compounds in shorter time and at less expense than is currently possible.In addition to cell replacement strategies, increased understanding of the intrinsic regenerative potential of individual organs, coupled with knowledge of how to control the scarring response in damaged tissues, may allow the development of drugs aimed at stimulating the body’s own (endogenous) stem cells to initiate or enhance repair. This approach is expected to prove more suitable than cell replacement for some diseases.

Finally, where use of a patient’s own cells is not possible, either because a sufficient number of cells cannot be obtained or because protocols for generating the required cell type in the lab (e.g., from iPS cells) have not yet been developed, the consequences of immunosuppression must also be considered. Banking hES and iPS cell lines is one way to ensure that patients can receive cells with a good immunological match, thus minimizing any required immunosuppression. While cell replacement offers hope for the treatment of many diseases in the long term, it may still be some time before large-scale clinical use is available for most applications. Understanding how to produce many of the specialized cell types in vitro remains a major hurdle. Furthermore, the field faces challenges around quality control. It is essential that only defined cell populations are introduced into patients; this requires careful characterization of the cell populations intended for transplantation, in terms of gene expression and epigenetic profiles and functional attributes, and also to ensure that the populations do not contain other potentially harmful cell types. For cells generated from human pluripotent cells, for example, contamination of the transplant population with even a small number of residual ES or iPS cells could promote tumor formation. In recent years, stem cell research has grown and changed remarkably. Many nations around the world are contributing to stem cell research; the dynamic nature of the field suggests the landscape is likely to shift as new players develop research programs and refine their expertise. Some clinical applications of tissue stem cells are already well established and importantly, some experimental pluripotent cell treatments are in clinical trials. However, if tissue and pluripotent stem cells are to fulfil their promise of meeting unmet medical needs, the challenge to further foster a regulatory, funding and corporate environment that facilitates the process of taking laboratory developments towards the clinic will be of major importance.

References:

1. Stem Cell Research: Trends and Perspectives on the Evolving International Landscape. – Режим доступу: http://www.eurostemcell.org

2. Human stem cells, cloning and research. – Режим доступу: http://www.tenk.fi/sites/tenk.fi/files/HumanStemCellsCloningandResearch.pdf

3. Microengineered hydrogels for stem cell bioengineering and tissue regeneration. – Режим доступу: http://www.harvardclub.org.au

4. Global assessment of stem cell engineering . – Режим доступу: http://www.wtec.org/SCE/StemCellEngineering-Final-1.25.13.pdf