Naturally Occurring Adult Pluripotent Stem Cells

Abstract

Regenerative medicine encompasses therapy using stem cells, bioactive factors, matrix scaffoldings, and/or gene therapy. Regenerative medicine has the potential to alleviate donor shortages, long waits for organ or tissue transplants, and genetic diseases. Adult pluripotent stem cells have the advantage of avoiding the ethical issues associated with the use of human fetal cells or embryonic cells or even induced pluripotent stem cells derived from differentiated somatic cells. Adult autologous pluripotent stem cells can be used as transplants that avoid tissue rejection, making transplantation possible without the use of immunosuppressive drugs that may have adverse effects on morbidity and mortality. This is the promise of pluripotent stem cell research, a rapidly developing field within regenerative medicine that has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of somatic and genetic human diseases. Dysfunctional cells and tissues that cause disease in humans can be selectively targeted and replaced with healthy tissue, using autologous or allogeneic (genetically normal) endogenous adult pluripotent stem cells. Moreover, the use of these cells can be coupled with artificial or natural matrix scaffoldings and/or bioactive factors for increased efficacy of treatment, thereby offering revolutionary new treatments without significant adverse side effects or complications. Keywords: Adult; Allogeneic; Autologous; Bioactive factors; CD markers; Germ layer lineage stem cell; Pluripotent epiblast-like stem cell (ELSC); Progenitor cell; Stem cell; Telomerase; Totipotent blastomere-like stem cell (BLSC)