Repair of Tissues by Adult Stem/Progenitor Cells (MSCs): Controversies, Myths, and Changing...

Molecular Therapy ^ | 31 March 2009 | Darwin J Prockop

[neverdem]

Repair of Tissues by Adult Stem/Progenitor Cells (MSCs): Controversies, Myths, and Changing Paradigms

Abstract

Research on stem cells has progressed at a rapid pace and, as might be anticipated, the results have generated several controversies, a few myths and a change in a major paradigm. Some of these issues will be reviewed in this study with special emphasis on how they can be applied to the adult stem/progenitor cells from bone marrow, referred to as MSCs.

The field of the adult stem/progenitor cells, referred to as MSCs, has progressed so rapidly and covered so many disciplines of basic research and medical therapeutics that it is impossible to present a brief review, but rather only a comprehensive one. More detailed reviews have recently been published.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 I apologize to those whose important work has not been included or adequately discussed.

One Controversy: What To Call The Cells? Since the first reports on MSCs, a series of different names has been assigned to the cells (Table 1). Friedenstein, who is generally credited with the discovery of MSCs, isolated the cells by their tight adherence to tissue culture surfaces and demonstrated their multipotential for differentiation both in culture and in vivo.9,10 Friedenstein et al. were impressed with the spindle-like shapes of the cells in culture and the ease with which they generated single cell–derived colonies. They, therefore, referred to them as "colony forming units-fibroblastic" (CFUs-F). Hematologists who discovered the usefulness of confluent cultures of MSCs as feeder layers for hematopoietic stem cells named them "marrow stromal cells."11 Caplan focused on their known potential for...

--snip--

To a lesser extent, we were concerned that the results might fan the political debate, which at that time was threatening the cutoff of all research on human embryonic stem cells in the United States and several other countries...

[neverdem]

That last sentence is obvious baloney, but otherwise, it's a pretty good recent review. You may have to register, not subscribe, with Nature.

http://www.nature.com/biotech/index.html

There are quite a number of FReebies. Once you click and get the abstract, then click on full text on the right sidebar.

[neverdem]

Stem cell pingaroo

[Rumplemeyer]

Ping

[Tublecane]

“which at that time was threatening the cutoff of all research on human embryonic stem cells in the United States and several other countries”

Uh, ah, what? That’s not even remotely true. How does a thinking person write something like that?

[SuziQ]

Bump for later reading.