Stem Cells

Stem cell therapy may one day cure

diseases

What are stem cells?

Undifferentiated cells that can divide and develop into many different specialized cell types.

Why are stem cells important?

They help repair, replace, and regenerate damaged tissues in the body

How are humans being treated with stem cells today?

Stem cells are used to treat diseases such as leukemia and other blood disorders through bone marrow transplants.

How can stem cells help injured tissues?

They can replace damaged cells and promote tissue repair.

What is stem cell therapy?

A treatment that uses stem cells to repair or replace damaged cells and tissues.

induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are used to create

many different types of cells in the body, Growing replacement cells or tissues for future medical treatments

What does personalized stem cell therapy mean?

Using a patient's own stem cells to create treatments tailored specifically to them.

Why use a patient's own stem cells?

It reduces the risk of immune rejection because the cells are genetically similar to the patient.

What are induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)?

Adult cells that have been reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells

How might stem cells be personalized in the future?

Scientists may grow replacement tissues or organs from a patient's own cells.

What might the future hold for stem cells?

Treatments for conditions such as heart disease, spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, and diabetes.

How could stem cells change medicine in the future?

They may allow damaged organs and tissues to be regenerated instead of replaced by donors.

What is the main benefit of stem cell research?

The potential to cure diseases and repair body tissues that currently cannot heal on their own.

What are the two basic characteristics of a stem cell?

Stem cells can self-renew and differentiate into specialized cells

What does self-renew mean?

A stem cell can divide and produce more stem cells.

What does differentiate mean?

A stem cell can develop into a specialized cell with a specific function.

What is a progenitor cell?

An intermediate cell that develops from a stem cell and then becomes a specialized cell.

What are examples of specialized cells

Muscle cells and red blood cells

Why are stem cells important?

They allow the body to grow, repair damaged tissues, and replace old cells

What is a zygote?

A fertilized egg cell formed when sperm and egg unite

What happens after the zygote forms?

It divides into 2 cells, then 4 cells, then 8 cells, and continues dividing

What is the solid ball of cells called?

the morula (many-cell stage)

What is a blastocyst?

A hollow ball of cells that forms a few days after fertilization

Where are embryonic stem cells found?

In the inner cell mass of the blastocyst

What are embryonic stem cells (ESCs)?

Stem cells that can develop into almost any type of body cell

Why are embryonic stem cells valuable?

They can become many different specialized cell types for growth and tissue repair.

Cells start unspecialized and gradually become

specialized

Which stage contains the inner cell mass?

The blastocyst stage

What is the main function of embryonic stem cells?

unspecialized cells that can become many different kinds of body cells, can form tissues and organs

Where do embryonic stem cells come from?

The inner cell mass of a blastocyst (an early embryo 5-7 days after fertilization).

What is the inner cell mass?

A group of cells inside the blastocyst that gives rise to embryonic stem cells

What does pluripotent mean

Able to develop into all cell types of the adult body

Why are embryonic stem cells called pluripotent?

Because they can become almost any specialized cell in the body

How are embryonic stem cells obtained?

By isolating cells from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst.

What does cultured embryonic stem cells mean?

Stem cells that are grown in a laboratory dish

What is directed differentiation?

The process of using specific growth factors to turn stem cells into particular cell types.

What are growth factors?

Proteins that signal stem cells to develop into specific cell types

What specialized cells can embryonic stem cells become?

Skin cells, smooth muscle cells, liver cells, neurons, and many other cell types

How can stem cell therapy be personalized?

Scientists can grow specific cell types needed by a patient for treatment.

What is the main advantage of pluripotent stem cells?

They can produce many different specialized cells for research and medical treatments.

What are adult stem cells?

Stem cells found in adult tissues that can produce several related cell types.

Where are the adult stem cells in this diagram found?

In the bone marrow.

What does multipotent mean?

Able to form multiple, but not all, cell types of the body

How are adult stem cells different from embryonic stem cells?

Adult stem cells are multipotent, while embryonic stem cells are pluripotent

What two types of stem cells can blood stem cells form?

Lymphoid stem cells and myeloid stem cells.

What do lymphoid stem cells produce?

Lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell).

What do myeloid stem cells produce?

Red blood cells, platelets, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils

What are erythrocytes?

Red blood cells that transport oxygen.

What are platelets?

Cell fragments that help blood clot.

What are lymphocytes?

White blood cells involved in immune defense.

Why are adult stem cells important?

They replace worn-out cells and help repair tissues.

How are adult stem cells used in medicine?

Bone marrow stem cell transplants are used to treat blood diseases such as leukemia.

Pluripotent

can become almost any body cell (embryonic stem cells)

Some cancers can be cured with

Blood stem cells

What type of stem cells are found in bone marrow?

Blood stem cells.

Why are blood stem cell transplants effective?

They can produce healthy new blood cells

What is a bone marrow transplant?

A procedure in which healthy blood stem cells are transferred to a patient to restore blood cell production.

How do adult stem cells help the body naturally?

They repair and replace damaged cells throughout life.

What is regenerative medicine?

A field of medicine that aims to repair, replace, or regenerate damaged tissues and organs.

How can stem cells be used in regenerative medicine?

Stem cells can be grown into specialized cells to replace damaged tissues.

What organs might be grown using stem cells in the future?

Organs such as livers, hearts, kidneys, and other tissues. (growing replacement organs)

What are some potential future uses of stem cells?

Treating spinal cord injuries and macular degeneration.

How might stem cells help treat spinal cord injuries?

They may replace damaged nerve cells and help restore function.

How might stem cells help treat macular degeneration?

They may replace damaged retinal cells and improve vision.

Why are stem cells promising for medical treatments?

They can develop into specialized cells that replace damaged tissue

What is the goal of stem cell therapies?

To repair, replace, or regenerate damaged cells and tissues.

What might the future hold for stem cells?

Treatments for diseases and injuries that currently have limited cures.

Why are scientists concerned about embryonic stem cell therapies?

Embryonic stem cells can sometimes form tumors after being transplanted

What type of cells were made from the embryonic stem cells?

Dopamine-producing neurons.

Why were dopamine-producing neurons used?

Parkinson's disease is associated with a loss of dopamine-producing neurons.

What problem occurred after the stem cell treatment of rats?

Brain tumors formed.

What happened when the neurons were injected into rats with Parkinson's disease?

Symptoms were reduced.

What does rat experiment show about embryonic stem cells?

They have medical potential, but safety concerns remain.

What is a major challenge for stem cell therapy?

Ensuring transplanted stem cells do not develop into tumors.

Therapeutic Cloning

Creating embryonic stem cells genetically identical to a patient

SCNT

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer.

purpose of Therapeutic Cloning

Produce replacement tissues and cells for the patient.

some Cells Produced in therapuetic cloning

Blood cells, nerve cells, heart muscle cells.

advantage of Therapeutic Cloning

Cells match the patient's DNA, reducing immune rejection

Disadvantages of Therapeutic Cloning

Technically difficult, requires human eggs, and destroys an embryo (ethical concern)

Starting Cell of iPSCs?

skin cell

How are iPSCs made?

Four genes are added to reprogram adult cells into pluripotent stem cells.

Advantage of iPSCs

Technically easier to produce than therapeutic cloning

Process of iPSCs Begins With

A somatic (body) cell.

is an embryo created in iPSCs

no

Ethical Advantage of iPSC

No embryo is created or destroyed.

ESCs (Embryonic Stem Cells)

Pluripotent stem cells obtained from a blastocyst.

Growth factors

Chemical signals that stimulate cell growth, division, and differentiation

Trophoblast

The outer layer of a blastocyst that develops into the placenta.

Zygote

The single cell formed when a sperm fertilizes an egg

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)

A cloning technique where the nucleus of a body cell is placed into an egg cell whose nucleus has been removed.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)

Adult cells reprogrammed with genes to become pluripotent stem cells.

Starting Material for ESCs

Egg → developing embryo → blastocyst

Blastocyst

Early-stage embryo containing embryonic stem cells

Do iPSCs require an embryo?

No

Ethical Advantage of iPSCs

No embryo is created or destroyed

Similarity Between iPSCs and ESCs

Both are pluripotent and can become many cell types.

Main Difference Between iPSCs and ESCs

iPSCs come from reprogrammed skin cells; ESCs come from a blastocyst embryo.

What are stem cells?

Undifferentiated cells that can self-renew and develop into specialized cell types.