Use of Peripheral Blood Stem Cells in Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) have been considered an alternative material to bone marrow cells for lymphoma, myeloma and clinically tested treatment of other malignant diseases. The target cells are isolated from a very simple blood collection process, eliminating the need for a surgical bone marrow aspiration to be conducted on the patient. Due to the simplicity of the sample collection process, PBSCs may have additional applications that can be applied to other forms of disease. Vascular system diseases have become central issues with manifestations ranging from coronary and cerebral vascular disease to systemic arteriosclerosis. It has been reported that PBSCs can differentiate into endothelial and smooth muscle cells, and that endothelial progenitor cells residing among PBSCs can induce a significant level of neoendothelialization. Because PBSCs contain mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) populations they may also be an excellent starting material for engineering connecting tissues, including fat, bone, skin and cartilage. Therefore, PBSCs may become a promising component in tissue engineering. However, their limited capability to produce different cell lineages may prevent them from being a major player in this field. Although transdifferentiation of PBSCs to cardiomyocytes has been reported, it continues to be debated. Recently, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology has emerged. This technology is capable of producing embryonic stem (ES) cell-like cells from somatic cells. Applying iPS cell technology to PBSCs may increase their potency to produce other types of cells. In this review, we will discuss the current and possible future use of PBSCs in tissue engineering.