CLINICAL APPLICATIONS
There is a large body of scientific data about likely cell-based therapies with differentiated embryonic stem cells. Investigators have differentiated embryonic stem cells into bone, cartilage, blood, cardiac muscle, nerve cells, pancreatic cells, and liver tissue, and these cells have been used in animal models to treat diabetes, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases, and for tissue and organ replacement.(1) In addition, they are being successfully studied for post-cardiac infarction heart muscle cell replacement, to treat some types of blindness, for bone and cartilage repair and to treat female and male sterility.
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Following is a brief overview of some of the most promising published results to date.
Embryonic Stem Cells and Spinal Cord Injury
Using two types of neural cells generated from embryonic stem cells, researchers successfully treated paralysis in animals with spinal cord injury. These two neural cell types, oligodendrocytes and motor neurons, are important in nerve function and impulse transmission and are compromised in individuals with spinal cord injuries. When injured animals were injected with neural cells made from embryonic stem cells, they regained a significant degree of motor function and mobility. Original articles were published in the journals Neuroscience and the Annals of Neurology(2,3).
Studies using oligodendrocytes derived from embryonic stem cells to treat spinal cord injury in humans are poised to enter clinical trials.
Embryonic Stem Cells and the Heart
The Journal of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery published results from animal studies (4,5) in 2003 showing that the injection of heart cells derived from human embryonic stem cells into the hearts of victims of cardiac infarction showed improvement of heart function and improved blood vessel formation. It has also been shown that human embryonic stem cells can be used to build a functional heart muscle by tissue engineering.(6)
Embryonic Stem Cells Restore Sight
Data from animal studies published in a 2006 article in the publication Cloning Stem Cells, showed that ocular retinal cells generated from human embryonic stem cells restored visual ability. The subjects of the study were blind due to retinal degenerative disease such as macular degeneration in humans.(7)
References
1) The official National Institutes of Health resource for stem cell research: Regenerative Medicine 2006
2) Keirstead H S et al. J. Neurosci. 25:4694-705, 2005
3) Deshpande D M et al. Ann Neurol. 60:32-44, 2006
4) Min J Y et al. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 125:361-9, 2003
5) Kehat I. et al. Nat. Biotechnol. 22:1282-9, 2004
6) Caspi O et al. Circ. Res. 100:263-72, 2007
7) Lund R D et al. Cloning Stem Cells. 8:189-99, 2006
