Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

“Glow-in-the-dark” dogs!

What is stem cell research? Understand more about development, aging, disease – Experimental model systems Prevent or treat diseases and injuries – Cell-based therapies – Pharmaceutical development Includes testing and drug delivery

Trachea transplantation: Example of adult stem cell-based tissue regeneration

Outline of Presentation Introduction to fertilization and embryonic development What makes stem cells unique? What do stem cells look like? What are the different types of stem cells? What are examples of stem cell research, therapies, and technologies? How did they make those dogs? Conclusion and future directions

In the IVF procedure, sperm and eggs “interact” in a dish leading to insemination. They literally swim up to the egg and burrow toward the nucleus. The first one to get there wins, and all others are blocked out. Male fertility issue: Sometimes sperm cannot latch onto and penetrate the egg. They may choose to have Intra(within)-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) Day 1

Embryonic Stem Cells

At what point is this a fetus? Days 7-14: Uterine implantation Day 14: Three distinct layers begin to form (no more pluripotent stem cells) Days 14-21: Beginning of future nervous system Days 21-24: Beginning of future face, neck, mouth, and nose Weeks 3-8: Beginning of organ formation This picture is Week 5 Week 5-8+: Now it’s called a fetus (no consensus on a single timepoint)

Embryonic Development: Zebrafish model Keller et al. 2008

Outline of Presentation Introduction to fertilization and embryonic development What makes stem cells unique? What do stem cells look like? What are the different types of stem cells? What are examples of stem cell research, therapies, and technologies? Conclusion and future directions

Symmetric cell division

Asymmetric cell division 1.Self-renews 2.Differentiates Progenitor cell Stem cell

 SELF – RENEWAL  DIFFERENTIATION

Outline of Presentation Introduction to fertilization and embryonic development What makes stem cells unique? What do stem cells look like? What are the different types of stem cells? What are examples of stem cell research, therapies, and technologies? Conclusion and future directions

Embryonic stem cells in the dish: What do cultured ES cells look like?

Fluorescent imaging of embryonic stem cell colonies.

Outline of Presentation Introduction to fertilization and embryonic development What makes stem cells unique? What do stem cells look like? What are the different types of stem cells? What are examples of stem cell research, therapies, and technologies? Conclusion and future directions

This cell Can form the Embryo and placenta This cell Can just form the embryo Fully mature

Stem cells in the adult brain: Are they still working for us now?

Stem cells in mature skeletal muscle: Is there power still in our stem cells?

Signals to Stem Cells Other Cells Matrix Molecules Self-Renewal Soluble Factors Differentiation Little, et al. Chemical Reviews (2008).

All cells in a person share the same genotype Yet eye cells differ from nose cells Central dogma of biology Genetic engineering Tissue therapy How do cells know what to become?

Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cells Genetically engineering new stem cells Skin cells iPS cells

Recreating Pluripotency Image courtesy of Clontech

Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) Cells Genetically engineering new stem cells Skin cells iPS cells

Pros and Cons to iPS cell technology Pros: – Cells would be genetically identical to patient or donor of skin cells (no immune rejection!) – Do not need to use an embryo Cons: – Cells would still have genetic defects – One of the pluripotency genes is a cancer gene – Viruses might insert genes in places we don’t want them (causing mutations)

Factors known to affect stem cells Low stress levels Regular exercise Enriching experiences Learning new information Healthy diets: rich in antioxidants Avoid excessive drinking

Outline of Presentation Introduction to fertilization and embryonic development What makes stem cells unique? What do stem cells look like? What are the different types of stem cells? What are examples of stem cell research, therapies, and technologies? Conclusion and future directions

Experimental model system Heart muscle cells beating in a petri dish! Videos by the Exploratorium

Bone marrow transplant: Example of adult stem cell-based therapy

Spinal cord injury: Example of embryonic stem cell-based therapy Geron video:

Stem cells for drug delivery More focused delivery, fewer side affects NSCs injected (no tumor) NSCs injected (tumor) Day 0Day 7 Day 14 Shah et al. Dev Neurosci 2004

What are stem cell technologies? Cloning technologies – Is human cloning a technology? – What is different about cloning embryonic stem cells? Induced Pluripotent Stem cells – New ways to potentially avoid the use of embryos – Disease-specific stem cell lines created – The promise and potential pitfalls of this approach When does research actually become technology?

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) Cloning of embryonic stem cells Egg cell Udder cell

Types of Cloning

Outline of Presentation Introduction to fertilization and embryonic development What makes stem cells unique? What do stem cells look like? What are the different types of stem cells? What are examples of stem cell research, therapies, and technologies? Conclusion and future directions

Why do researchers want to use embryonic stem cells along with other technologies? Pluripotent – Expanded developmental potential allows them to be used in ways that adult stem cells cannot Can proliferate indefinitely in culture Easier to obtain than adult stem cells

Science is discovering the unknown Stem cell field is still in its infancy Human embryonic stem cell research is a decade old, adult stem cell research has 30-year head start Holds hope for curing or improving treatments for 70+ diseases How can you help to shape the direction of this field?

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