Vast therapeutic applications of the following specific stem cells in
disease and tissue injury are discussed: embryonic stem cells, induced
pluripotent stem cells, human hair follicle stem cells, bone
marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells,
periodontal/progenitor cells, cancer stem cells, and breast cancer stem
cells. Because human embryonic stem cells possess the potential to
produce unlimited quantities of any human cell type, considerable focus
is placed on this type of stem cells in this volume. The role of cancer
stem cells, specifically in breast cancer is explained. Transplantation
of mesenchymal stem cells to aid the injured brain is included. Immune
recovery after stem cells transplantation in severe combined
immunodeficiency patients is described. The role of mesenchymal stem
cells in enhancing the growth and metastasis of colon cancer is
discussed. Clinical application of human follicle stem cells is
presented. Treatment of malignant gliomas using genetically-modified
neural stem cells as a marker is discussed. The impact of cancer stem
cell hypothesis on designing new cancer therapies is explained. In the
field of regenerative medicine, the use of stem cells in the repair of
the central nervous system, tendon injury, and as a cardiac regenerative
medicine is described. The role of DNA methylation in maintaining
stemness induced pluripotent stem cells from human extraembryonic amnion
cells is discussed. Insights on the understanding of molecular pathways
involved in tumor biology are explained, which lead to the development
of effective drugs. Information on pathways, such as hedgehog,
facilitates targeted therapies in cancer.
