Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, able to create all cell types, save
more embryonic tissue.
Not exact matches
In addition to providing an alternative to
embryonic stem cells for potential use in regenerating diseased
tissues, iPS cells are being used to learn
more about diseases, especially diseases driven by mutated genes.
But even
more far - ranging treatments may be possible with
embryonic stem cells, the blank - slate cells that give rise to all organs and
tissue types and that (theoretically) can repair all forms of organic damage and disease.
They propose that normal
tissue becomes primed for cancer when oncogenes are activated and tumor suppressor genes are silenced or lost, but that cancer develops only when a cell in the
tissue reverts to a
more primitive,
embryonic state and starts dividing.
Genetic scans indicated that the cells were
more similar to
embryonic tissue than to the original fibroblasts.
By contrast, most
embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells are
more restricted in their developmental potential, able to form
embryonic cell types, but not extra-
embryonic tissues.
That suggests that the cells have gone beyond pluripotency and taken on some characteristics of totipotent cells, which are even
more developmentally primitive and can produce not only
embryonic tissues, but also the supporting
tissues such as placenta.
When normal cells are transformed into cancer cells, this epithelial
tissue can take on the characteristics of
embryonic tissue, known as mesenchymal
tissue, which is comprised of unspecialized cells that will develop, as the embryo matures, into
more specialized
tissues.
The new cells, which Yamanaka called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, looked and behaved like
embryonic stem cells, which are prized for their ability to transform themselves into almost any kind of
tissue and, perhaps, someday cure disease — a
more distinct possibility now that President Barack Obama has loosened restrictions on stem cell research.
Tumors were suspected to be
tissues that had been triggered to become
embryonic - like again, and it is now generally accepted that tumors are indeed
more «
embryonic» than the
tissues they are derived from, due to the re-expression of
embryonic - related genes.
This finding complements previous research from the University of Edinburgh and the National Institute for Medical Research which showed that
embryonic stem cells can be coaxed into this spinal cord cells; however, the Cambridge researchers showed that the in the embryo - like aggregates, the structural organization is
more robust and allows for the polarised growth of the
tissue.
Interestingly, this state of immune tolerance is similar to what happens during pregnancy, and,
more specifically, it's been found that the body's response to a tumor is very similar to its response to
embryonic tissues.
It's not known what triggers the immune system to attack the
embryonic stem cells, but the scientists believe it may be a protein that begins to appear on the surface of the cells as they differentiate into
more - specialized
tissues.
Blastoma: Tumors formed from
embryonic tissue or developing cells are known as blastomas and are
more common in children than adults.
Adult stem cells were once believed to be
more limited than
embryonic stem cells, only giving rise to the same type of
tissue from which they originated.
And in a similar way you have heart
tissue that's
embryonic, fetal and adult, and we don't really know which type of
tissue is being developed, and that needs to be worked on
more specifically.