Authors: Bendall, Sean C; Stewart, Morag H; Bhatia, Mickie

Source: Regenerative Medicine, Volume 3, Number 3, May 2008 , pp. 365-376(12)

Publisher: Future Medicine

Abstract:

In vivo the stem cell niche is an essential component in controlling and maintaining the stem cells'' ability to survive and respond to injury. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) appear to be an exception to this rule as they can be removed from their blastocytic microenvironment and maintained indefinitely in vitro. However, recent observations reveal the existence of an autonomously derived in vitro hESC niche. This provides a previously unappreciated mechanism to control hESC expansion and differentiation. Recognizing this, it may now be possible to take aspects of in vivo stem cell niches, namely extracellular matrices, paracrine signals and accessory cell types, and exploit them in order to gain fidelity in directed hESC differentiation. In doing so, routine customization of hESC lines and their application in regenerative therapies may be further enhanced using unique hESC niche-based approaches.

Keywords: cell-based therapy; differentiation; embroid body; hdF; hESC; human embryonic stem cells; microenvironment; niche; pluripotency; regenerative medicine; self-renewal

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2217/17460751.3.3.365

Affiliations: 1: 1McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute, Michael G DeGroote School of Medicine, and Department of Biochemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada

Publication date: 2008-05-01

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