Role of stem cell research in therapeutic purpose--a hope for new horizon in medical biotechnology

Abstract

While the WHO's general alignment for malignancies & diabetic impacts only one quarter of the world's population, the Indian population is negatively skewed outside of such malignancies & diabetic range. Stem cells (SCs) are undifferentiated highly specialized kinds of cell types having capacity to renew itself, found in different tissue or organ. SCs are capable of dividing for long period of time to furnish grow different cell types with specific functions. It took about twenty years to gain knowledge of how to grow embryonic stem cell in-vitro. The primary roles of adult stem cells in a living organism are to renew or maintain and repairthe injured tissue in which they are found. SCs are classified in to two categories on the basis of their origin and their functional properties. First the embryonic stem cells originate from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, while second is of adult stem cells. Another category of stem cells are the amniotic fluid derived embryonic cells (AFEc) having equally important cells which transform into various types of tissues present in fat, bone, muscles, liver and blood vessels. The main advantage of AFEc is to use these cells without or disturbing or touching embryo. Embryonic stem cell expresses specific markers of self renewal and pluripotency including transcription factor like SOX-2, LIF etc. Bone--marrow contains two kinds of stem cells, one haemotopoietic which form the blood and second stroma which form mixed cell population like bone, cartilage fat and fibrous connective tissue. Cellular differentiation of stem cells is inimitable and based on either intrinsic or extrinsic signals and during migration cancer stem cell loses cell polarity which leads to epithelial to mesenchymal transition (ENT). These signals named genes which carry coded instructions (novel molecules) for all the structure and function. External signals are chemical molecules secreted by other neighboring cell through physical contact (paracrine regulation). Efforts are being done to grow both embryonic and adult stem cells using "tissue culture engineering" in vitro. SCs could be used for various therapeutic purposes like Parkinson's patients, Alzheimer's disease & other neurological disorders patients, repairing for damaged heart muscles and for type I diabetes patients as an alternative source of chemotherapy including trauma patients which is not only expensive but lack of side effect too.