Translational Stem Cell Research: Issues Beyond the Debate on the Moral Status of the Human Embryo. Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Edited by Kristina Hug and Göran Hermerén. New York: Humana Press (Springer). $189.00. xxvi + 461 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-1-60761-958-1 (hc); 978-1-60761-959-8 (eb). 2011.

Abstract Studies of the regenerating hematopoietic system have led to the definition of many of the fundamental principles of stem cell biology. Therapies based on a range of tissue stem cells have been widely touted as a new treatment modality, presaging an emerging new specialty called regenerative medicine that promises to harness stem cells from embryonic and somatic sources to provide replacement cell therapies for genetic, malignant, and degenerative conditions. Insights borne from stem cell biology also portend development of protein and small molecule therapeutics that act on endogenous stem cells to promote repair and regeneration. Much of the newfound enthusiasm for regenerative medicine stems from the hope that advances in the laboratory will be followed soon thereafter by breakthrough treatments in the clinic. But how does one sort through the hype to judge the true promise? Are stem cell biologists and the media building expectations that cannot be met? Which diseases can be treated, and when can we expect success? In this review, we outline the realms of investigation that are capturing the most attention, and consider the current state of scientific understanding and controversy regarding the properties of embryonic and somatic (adult) stem cells. Our objective is to provide a framework for appreciating the promise while at the same time understanding the challenges behind translating fundamental stem cell biology into novel clinical therapies.

Download Full-text

Multiparametric Phenotypic Screening System for Profiling Bioactive Compounds Using Human Fetal Hippocampal Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells

CrossRef Listing of Deleted DOIs ◽

10.1177/1087057115598119 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (9) ◽

pp. 1074-1083 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yoshikuni Tabata ◽

Norio Murai ◽

Takeo Sasaki ◽

Sachie Taniguchi ◽

Shuichi Suzuki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stem Cell ◽

Regenerative Medicine ◽

Progenitor Cells ◽

Cell Fate ◽

Bioactive Compounds ◽

Cell Biology ◽

Stem Cell Biology ◽

Screening System ◽

Human Stem Cells ◽

Neural Stem Progenitor Cells

Stem cell research has been progressing rapidly, contributing to regenerative biology and regenerative medicine. In this field, small-molecule compounds affecting stem cell proliferation/differentiation have been explored to understand stem cell biology and support regenerative medicine. In this study, we established a multiparametric screening system to detect bioactive compounds affecting the cell fate of human neural stem/progenitor cells (NSCs/NPCs), using human fetal hippocampal NSCs/NPCs, HIP-009 cells. We examined effects of 410 compounds, which were collected based on mechanisms of action (MOAs) and chemotypes, on HIP-009’s cell fate (self-renewal, neuronal and astrocytic differentiation) and morphology by automated multiparametric assays and profiled induced cellular phenotypes. We found that this screening classified compounds with the same MOAs into subgroups according to additional pharmacological effects (e.g., mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 [mTORC1] inhibitors and mTORC1/mTORC2 dual inhibitors among mTOR inhibitors). Moreover, it identified compounds that have off-target effects under matrix analyses of MOAs and structure similarities (e.g., neurotropic effects of amitriptyline among tri- and tetracyclic compounds). Therefore, this automated, medium-throughput and multiparametric screening system is useful for finding compounds that affect the cell fate of human NSCs/NPCs for supporting regenerative medicine and to fingerprint compounds based on human stem cells’ multipotency, leading to understanding of stem cell biology.

Download Full-text

Creating Embryos for Use in Stem Cell Research

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1111/j.1748-720x.2010.00483.x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 229-237 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Dan W. Brock

Keyword(s):

Stem Cell ◽

Stem Cell Research ◽

Human Embryo ◽

Moral Status ◽

Human Embryonic Stem Cell ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Human Beings ◽

Early Embryos ◽

The Moment ◽

Hesc Research

The intense and extensive debate over human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research has focused primarily on the moral status of the human embryo. Some commentators assign full moral status of normal adult human beings to the embryo from the moment of its conception. At the other extreme are those who believe that a human embryo has no significant moral status at the time it is used and destroyed in stem cell research. And in between are many intermediate positions that assign an embryo some degree of moral status between none and full. This controversy and the respective positions, like the abortion controversy, is by now well understood, despite the lack of progress in resolving it. I have argued briefly elsewhere that early embryos do not have significant moral status, but I do not want to reenter that debate here. Instead, I want to focus on an issue that has had relatively little explicit and separate attention, but is likely to loom larger in light of the Obama administration’s partial lifting of the Bush administration’s restriction on the embryos that can be used in stem cell research that receives federal funding.

Download Full-text