scholarly journals Stem Cells as New Agents for the Treatment of Infertility: Current and Future Perspectives and Challenges

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladislav Volarevic ◽  
Sanja Bojic ◽  
Jasmin Nurkovic ◽  
Ana Volarevic ◽  
Biljana Ljujic ◽  
...  

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that are present in the embryonic, fetal, and adult stages of life and give rise to differentiated cells that make up the building blocks of tissue and organs. Due to their unlimited source and high differentiation potential, stem cells are considered as potentially new therapeutic agents for the treatment of infertility. Stem cells could be stimulatedin vitroto develop various numbers of specialized cells including male and female gametes suggesting their potential use in reproductive medicine. During past few years a considerable progress in the derivation of male germ cells from pluripotent stem cells has been made. In addition, stem cell-based strategies for ovarian regeneration and oocyte production have been proposed as future clinical therapies for treating infertility in women. In this review, we summarized current knowledge and present future perspectives and challenges regarding the use of stem cells in reproductive medicine.

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 539-546
Author(s):  
Jing Wang ◽  
Chi Liu ◽  
Masayuki Fujino ◽  
Guoqing Tong ◽  
Qinxiu Zhang ◽  
...  

Worldwide, infertility affects 8-12% of couples of reproductive age and has become a common problem. There are many ways to treat infertility, including medication, intrauterine insemination, and in vitro fertilization. In recent years, stem-cell therapy has raised new hope in the field of reproductive disability management. Stem cells are self-renewing, self-replicating undifferentiated cells that are capable of producing specialized cells under appropriate conditions. They exist throughout a human’s embryo, fetal, and adult stages and can proliferate into different cells. While many issues remain to be addressed concerning stem cells, stem cells have undeniably opened up new ways to treat infertility. In this review, we describe past, present, and future strategies for the use of stem cells in reproductive medicine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. e201900534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Ameneiro ◽  
Tiago Moreira ◽  
Alejandro Fuentes-Iglesias ◽  
Alba Coego ◽  
Vera Garcia-Outeiral ◽  
...  

BMAL1 is essential for the regulation of circadian rhythms in differentiated cells and adult stem cells, but the molecular underpinnings of its function in pluripotent cells, which hold a great potential in regenerative medicine, remain to be addressed. Here, using transient and permanent loss-of-function approaches in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), we reveal that although BMAL1 is dispensable for the maintenance of the pluripotent state, its depletion leads to deregulation of transcriptional programs linked to cell differentiation commitment. We further confirm that depletion of Bmal1 alters the differentiation potential of ESCs in vitro. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that BMAL1 participates in the regulation of energy metabolism maintaining a low mitochondrial function which is associated with pluripotency. Loss-of-function of Bmal1 leads to the deregulation of metabolic gene expression associated with a shift from glycolytic to oxidative metabolism. Our results highlight the important role that BMAL1 plays at the exit of pluripotency in vitro and provide evidence implicating a non-canonical circadian function of BMAL1 in the metabolic control for cell fate determination.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaifang Wang ◽  
Maryam Farzaneh

Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) is one of the main diseases causing female infertility that occurs in about 1% of women between 30-40 years of age. There are few effective methods for the treatment of women with POI. In the past few years, stem cell-based therapy as one of the most highly investigated new therapies has emerged as a promising strategy for the treatment of POI. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) can self-renew indefinitely and differentiate into any type of cell. Human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs) as a type of pluripotent stem cells are the most powerful candidate for the treatment of POI. Human-induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSCs) are derived from adult somatic cells by the treatment with exogenous defined factors to create an embryonic-like pluripotent state. Both hiPSCs and hESCs can proliferate and give rise to ectodermal, mesodermal, endodermal, and germ cell lineages. After ovarian stimulation, the number of available oocytes is limited and the yield of total oocytes with high quality is low. Therefore, a robust and reproducible in-vitro culture system that supports the differentiation of human oocytes from PSCs is necessary. Very few studies have focused on the derivation of oocyte-like cells from hiPSCs and the details of hPSCs differentiation into oocytes have not been fully investigated. Therefore, in this review, we focus on the differentiation potential of hPSCs into human oocyte-like cells.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1918
Author(s):  
Young-Bum Son ◽  
Yeon Ik Jeong ◽  
Yeon Woo Jeong ◽  
Mohammad Shamim Hossein ◽  
Per Olof Olsson ◽  
...  

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising multipotent cells with applications for cartilage tissue regeneration in stem cell-based therapies. In cartilage regeneration, both bone marrow (BM-MSCs) and synovial fluid (SF-MSCs) are valuable sources. However, the cellular characteristics and chondrocyte differentiation potential were not reported in either of the camel stem cells. The in vitro chondrocyte differentiation competence of MSCs, from (BM and SF) sources of the same Camelus dromedaries (camel) donor, was determined. Both MSCs were evaluated on pluripotent markers and proliferation capacity. After passage three, both MSCs showed fibroblast-like morphology. The proliferation capacity was significantly increased in SF-MSCs compared to BM-MSCs. Furthermore, SF-MSCs showed an enhanced expression of transcription factors than BM-MSCs. SF-MSCs exhibited lower differentiation potential toward adipocytes than BM-MSCs. However, the osteoblast differentiation potential was similar in MSCs from both sources. Chondrogenic pellets obtained from SF-MSCs revealed higher levels of chondrocyte-specific markers than those from BM-MSCs. Additionally, glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content was elevated in SF-MSCs related to BM-MSCs. This is, to our knowledge, the first study to establish BM-MSCs and SF-MSCs from the same donor and to demonstrate in vitro differentiation potential into chondrocytes in camels.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 738
Author(s):  
Melissa D. Mercado-Rubio ◽  
Erick Pérez-Argueta ◽  
Alejandro Zepeda-Pedreguera ◽  
Fernando J. Aguilar-Ayala ◽  
Ricardo Peñaloza-Cuevas ◽  
...  

Dental tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (DT-MSCs) are a promising resource for tissue regeneration due to their multilineage potential. Despite accumulating data regarding the biology and differentiation potential of DT-MSCs, few studies have investigated their adipogenic capacity. In this study, we have investigated the mesenchymal features of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs), as well as the in vitro effects of different adipogenic media on these cells, and compared them to those of periodontal ligament stem cells (PLSCs) and dental follicle stem cells (DFSCs). DFSC, PLSCs, and DPSCs exhibit similar morphology and proliferation capacity, but they differ in their self-renewal ability and expression of stemness markers (e.g OCT4 and c-MYC). Interestingly, DFSCs and PLSCs exhibited more lipid accumulation than DPSCs when induced to adipogenic differentiation. In addition, the mRNA levels of adipogenic markers (PPAR, LPL, and ADIPOQ) were significantly higher in DFSCs and PLSCs than in DPSCs, which could be related to the differences in the adipogenic commitment in those cells. These findings reveal that the adipogenic capacity differ among DT-MSCs, features that might be advantageous to increasing our understanding about the developmental origins and regulation of adipogenic commitment.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1498 ◽  
pp. 39-45
Author(s):  
Courtney E. LeBlon ◽  
Caitlin R. Fodor ◽  
Tony Zhang ◽  
Xiaohui Zhang ◽  
Sabrina S. Jedlicka

ABSTRACTHuman mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were routinely cultured on tissue-culture polystyrene (TCPS) to investigate the in vitro aging and cell stiffening. hMSCs were also cultured on thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which is a biocompatible polymer with an elastic modulus of approximately 12.9MPa, to investigate the impact of substrate elastic modulus on cell stiffening and differentiation potential. Cells were passaged over several generations on each material. At each passage, cells were subjected to osteogenic and myogenic differentiation. Local cell elastic modulus was measured at every passage using atomic force microscopy (AFM) indentation. Gene and protein expression was examined using qRT-PCR and immunofluorescent staining, respectively, for osteogenic and myogenic markers. Results show that the success of myogenic differentiation is highly reliant on the elastic modulus of the undifferentiated cells. The success of osteogenic differentiations is most likely somewhat dependent on the cell elastic modulus, as differentiations were more successful in earlier passages, when cells were softer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria D’Argenio

The last few years have featured an increasing interest in the study of the human microbiome and its correlations with health status. Indeed, technological advances have allowed the study of microbial communities to reach a previously unthinkable sensitivity, showing the presence of microbes also in environments usually considered as sterile. In this scenario, microbial communities have been described in the amniotic fluid, the umbilical blood cord, and the placenta, denying a dogma of reproductive medicine that considers the uterus like a sterile womb. This prenatal microbiome may play a role not only in fetal development but also in the predisposition to diseases that may develop later in life, and also in adulthood. Thus, the aim of this review is to report the current knowledge regarding the prenatal microbiome composition, its association with pathological processes, and the future perspectives regarding its manipulation for healthy status promotion and maintenance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 3213-3221
Author(s):  
Hieu Liem Pham ◽  
Phuc Van Pham

Introduction: The senescence of stem cells is the primary reason that causes aging of stem cell-containing tissues. Some hypotheses have suggested that high glucose concentration in diabetic patients is the main factor that causes senescence of cells in those patients. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of high glucose concentrations on the senescence of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs). Methods: ADSCs were isolated and expanded from human adipose tissues. They were characterized and confirmed as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) by expression of surface markers, their shape, and in vitro differentiation potential. They were then cultured in 3 different media- that contained 17.5 mM, 35 mM, or 55 mM of D-glucose. The senescent status of ADSCs was recorded by the expression of the enzyme beta-galactosidase, cell proliferation, and doubling time. Real-time RT-PCR was used to evaluate the expression of p16, p21, p53 and mTOR. Results: The results showed that high glucose concentrations (35 mM and 55 mM) in the culture medium induced senescence of human ADSCs. The ADSCs could progress to the senescent status quicker than those cultured in the lower glucose-containing medium (17.5 mM). The senescent state was related to the up-regulation of p16 and mTOR genes. Conclusion: These results suggest that high glucose in culture medium can trigger the expression of p16 and mTOR genes which cause early senescence in ADSCs. Therefore, ADSCs should be cultured in low glucose culture medium, or normal glucose concentration, to extend their life in vitro as well as in vivo.  


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiva Pratap Singh ◽  
Suresh Dinkar Kharche ◽  
Manisha Pathak ◽  
Ravi Ranjan ◽  
Yogesh Kumar Soni ◽  
...  

Abstract The milieu of testicular germline stem cells (mGSCs) is characterized as low oxygen (O2) environment, whereas, there in-vitro expansion is typically performed under normoxia (20-21% O2). Here, we evaluated and compared the culture and multilineage differentiation characteristics of enriched (through differential platting and percoll density centrifugation) caprine mGSCs (cmGSCs) under hypoxic (5% O2) and normoxic (21% O2) culture conditions. For this, in addition to growth characteristics and population-doubling time (PDT); viability, proliferation, senescence, and expression of key-markers of adhesion (β-integrin and E-Cadherin) and stemness (OCT-4, THY-1 and UCHL-1) were evaluated and compared under normoxia and hypoxia. Moreover, the extent of multilineage differentiation (neurogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic differentiation) was assessed. The survival, viability and proliferation were significantly promoted and PDT was reduced (p < 0.05), thus yielding a higher number of viable cells with larger colonies under hypoxia. Furthermore, expression of stemness and adhesion markers was distinctly increased under lowered O2 condition. Conversely, the presence of differentiated regions and expression of differentiation specific key genes [C/EBPα (adipogenic), nestin and β-tubulin (neurogenic), and COL2A1 (chondrogenic)] were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced under hypoxic conditions. These data demonstrate that culturing cmGSCs under hypoxia augments the growth characteristics, and stemness but not the multilineage differentiation potential of cmGSCs as compared with normoxia. These data are important for the development of robust methodologies for ex-vivo expansion and lineage-committed differentiation of cmGSCs for clinical applications.


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