What Are Stem Cells?

Stem cells are generically defined as precursor or progenitor cells that have the potential to differentiate into a wide variety of tissue. Although often categorized as either embryonic or adult, they actually represent a continuum of cell types that eventually transform into our end-product tissue meaning stem cells can regenerate themselves into any needed type of cell to serve the body. Umbilical blood, dental pulp (from baby teeth, molars and most extracted teeth), and fat tissue (adipose) are rich sources of stem cells (eliminating the ethical issues seen in politics and religion with embryonic stem cells). From Medical Waste to Life-Saving Promise. In the past, extracted teeth and related liposuction surgery adipose tissue has been viewed as medical waste and discarded at a high cost, resulting in the loss of this potential life-saving resource. Now these cells can be saved through a secure collection, processing and banking solution, to take full advantage of the rapidly developing treatments, cures, and therapies as the future of regenerative medicine and life-enhancing alternatives. A new source of adult stem cells that are:

Cells make up all the bodys tissue and organs such as the heart, liver, brain, and skin; serving both a structural and a functional role while performing a wide range of actions to enable the body to work in a normal and healthy state. Most cells in the body have already become what they are programmed to be and will not change. (i.e. a heart cell will always be a heart cell, a liver cell will always be a liver cell).

Stem cells, however, can divide and change into particular types of cells, which under controlled conditions, can grow into organs, bone and tissue. Developed stem cells can help repair the immune system or create replacement cells for those that are lost or damaged by injury or disease. The stem cells found in dental pulp and adipose tissue are a type of non-controversialadult stem cell known as Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). Mesenchymal stem cells can differentiate or mature into whatever cell type is needed in the body (tissue cells). The limitless potential of stem cells from dental & adipose (fat) tissue in use today includes:

This multi-potent potential makes these cells an excellent candidate for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering applications. With all the emerging applications using Mesenchymal stem cells, it is important to understand that these miraculous cells may indeed be the future of medicine for mainstream cellular-therapy applications, including the potential treatment of Parkinsons, Alzheimers, Diabetes Type I & II, Heart Attack, Stroke, MS, ALS, Nerve and Spinal Injury, Cirrhosis of the Liver, and others.

Stem cells from teeth and fatty tissue (Mesenchymal) are different from those found in bone marrow and cord blood (Hematopoietic). Marrow and blood stem cells can be used to treat blood disorders such as leukemia. Stem cells from tissue are different, and can be used to grow a range of tissues including bone, nerve, fat, skin, muscle and cartilage, and maybe even entire organs. Both types appear to be one of the bodys chief tools for self-repair. Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC): Adipose (fat) tissue is a dynamic multi-functional tissue that is found throughout the human body. The stem cells originated from adipose (and teeth) are Mesenchymal stem cells, having the ability to differentiate into bone, muscle, fat, nerve, and cartilage. MSCs are easy to obtain and often considered a waste product in several cosmetic and surgical procedures. Now the medical community is realizing the value of banking these cells to take full advantage of the treatments, cures, and therapies as the future of medicine.

These autologous (cells from the same person for whom they are to be used) adult stem cells are capable of performing three important functions with unique abilities:

Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSC): While it is not common knowledge, bone marrow transplants are essentially a stem cell transplant. And in December 2012, we had our 1 millionth transplant of hematopoietic stem cells. HSCs are used to treat blood disorders such as leukemia and sickle cell anemia. Emerging stem cell therapies are dependent on the presence of a rich and abundant source of stem cells. Bone marrow and cord blood is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells.

HSCs are defined by their ability to replenish all blood cell types and their ability to self-renew. It is known that a small number of HSCs can expand to generate a very large number of daughter HSCs. This phenomenon is used in bone marrow transplants, when a small number of HSCs reconstitute the blood system. There is much interest in the molecular requirement for HSC self-renewal, as understanding the ability of HSC to replenish themselves will eventually allow for in vitro renewal and propagation.

Human stem cell banks collect, test, preserve, store and deliver stem cells from individual donors for future use in the preparation of cell lines for use in cures, therapies, or treatments of diseases and age reversing developments. As the wide-ranging benefits become fully understood, the applications for stem cell treatment and uses are growing exponentially.

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Stem Cells Atlanta GA, Stem Cell Therapy, Dental Stem Cells

A genetic variation linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression wreaks havoc on connections among neurons in the developing brain, a team of researchers reports. The study, led by Guo-li Ming, M.D., Ph.D., and Hongjun Song, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and described online Aug. 17 in the journal Nature, used stem cells generated from people with and without mental illness to observe the effects of a rare and pernicious genetic variation on young brain cells. The results add to evidence that several major mental illnesses have common roots in faulty "wiring" during early brain development.

"This was the next best thing to going back in time to see what happened while a person was in the womb to later cause mental illness," says Ming. "We found the most convincing evidence yet that the answer lies in the synapses that connect brain cells to one another."

Previous evidence for the relationship came from autopsies and from studies suggesting that some genetic variants that affect synapses also increase the chance of mental illness. But those studies could not show a direct cause-and-effect relationship, Ming says.

One difficulty in studying the genetics of common mental illnesses is that they are generally caused by environmental factors in combination with multiple gene variants, any one of which usually could not by itself cause disease. A rare exception is the gene known as disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), in which some mutations have a strong effect. Two families have been found in which many members with the DISC1 mutations have mental illness.

To find out how a DISC1 variation with a few deleted DNA "letters" affects the developing brain, the research team collected skin cells from a mother and daughter in one of these families who have neither the variation nor mental illness, as well as the father, who has the variation and severe depression, and another daughter, who carries the variation and has schizophrenia. For comparison, they also collected samples from an unrelated healthy person. Postdoctoral fellow Zhexing Wen, Ph.D., coaxed the skin cells to form five lines of stem cells and to mature into very pure populations of synapse-forming neurons.

After growing the neurons in a dish for six weeks, collaborators at Pennsylvania State University measured their electrical activity and found that neurons with the DISC1 variation had about half the number of synapses as those without the variation. To make sure that the differences were really due to the DISC1 variation and not to other genetic differences, graduate student Ha Nam Nguyen spent two years making targeted genetic changes to three of the stem cell lines.

In one of the cell lines with the variation, he swapped out the DISC1 gene for a healthy version. He also inserted the disease-causing variation into one healthy cell line from a family member, as well as the cell line from the unrelated control. Sure enough, the researchers report, the cells without the variation now grew the normal amount of synapses, while those with the inserted mutation had half as many.

"We had our definitive answer to whether this DISC1 variation is responsible for the reduced synapse growth," Ming says.

To find out how DISC1 acts on synapses, the researchers also compared the activity levels of genes in the healthy neurons to those with the variation. To their surprise, the activities of more than 100 genes were different. "This is the first indication that DISC1 regulates the activity of a large number of genes, many of which are related to synapses," Ming says.

The research team is now looking more closely at other genes that are linked to mental disorders. By better understanding the roots of mental illness, they hope to eventually develop better treatments for it, Ming says.

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Stem cells reveal how illness-linked genetic variation affects neurons