Stem Cells & Differentiation
Stem Cell Reproduction
<== When stem cells divide one cell stays a stem cell but the other differentiates
Ex) Can become anything
Pluripotent (Kinda Specialized):
Ex) Either gonna be neural or muscular
Adult Stem Cells: Multipotent (Specialized): Can be induced to become pluripotent, in other words Adult stem cells that think they are younger.
Ex) Gonna be a Heart Cell
- Gene expression is the reason that cells do different things event hough they have the same genetic code.
- Progenitors: Often confused with adult stem cells, progenitor cells are early descendants of stem cells that can differentiate to form one or more kinds of cells, but cannot divide and reproduce indefinitely. A progenitor cell is often more limited than a stem cell in the kinds of cells it can become.
- Embryonic Stem Cell:
Ex) Can become anything
Pluripotent (Kinda Specialized):
Ex) Either gonna be neural or muscular
Adult Stem Cells: Multipotent (Specialized): Can be induced to become pluripotent, in other words Adult stem cells that think they are younger.
Ex) Gonna be a Heart Cell
BlackBoard Questions
What is an induced pluripotent stem cell? How is the use of iPS helping scientists eliminate ethical concerns about the use of embryonic stem cells?
There are three levels of stem cells, totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent. Embryonic stem cells are totipotent and they can become anything. Multipotent stem cells grow specific cells and thats it. For example, a multipotent stem cell could make heart muscle cells, but it couldn’t make a abdominal muscle. There is a stem cell in the middle of these two extremes called pluripotent. Pluripotent can reproduce to make cells from a certain system of the body. For example, pluripotent cells can be coded to produce a wide variety of neural cells or muscular cells. An induced pluripotent stem cell is an adult stem cell chemically induced to think that they are a pluripotent stem cell. The adult stem cells think they are younger. The use of iPS is helping work around the ethical concerns of stem cell research because it allows scientists to take actual adult stem cells from an adult and make them feel younger. Then the scientists can use these IPS’s to do the things that once could only be acquired from the young.
Stem cells are often rapidly dividing. Cancer cells are also cells that divide rapidly. How are these cells different from stem cells? If a cancer patient receives chemotherapy that targets rapidly dividing cells, how does this affect stem cells and the overall health of this person?
Stem cells and cancer cells have two main similarities. Both are grow and reproduce rapidly and both are undifferentiated, meaning that they still do not have a specific function. A huge difference between the two cells is that stem cells are turning into a cell that the body doesn’t need and can be harmed by, while stem cells reproduce into cells that the body uses and needs. Cancer cells are mutated cells that are damaged without repair and are not destroyed. These cancer cells pile up and hurt the host which is very different than the stem cells job in the body. If a cancer patient receives chemo that is targeting rapidly dividing cells the cancer cells are not going to be the only cells destroyed. Stem cells will die just as fast as cancer cells. This could be very detrimental to a persons overall health because the stem cells will not be able to do their job properly. Because of these effects, many cancer patients need a bone marrow treatment to build more blood cell producing stem cells.
What are the potential medical benefits of stem cell research? Give a few specific examples.
Piggybacking off the last question about cancer. The more we learn about stem cells the better we will be able to replenish stem cells after a treatment like chemotherapy. If scientists can find a way to somehow form these cells that are the correctly linked to the patient, we would not need to have to find a correct donor. Also, if these replacement cells are coming from the patient, there will be no worries about whether the transplant will be a success. Another way that stem cell research could change the medical world would be through fixing, or replacing organs that are not working properly for a patient. For example, if a patient has a heart that is malfunctioning, scientists someday through cell research could either patch up the problem with the persons own cells, or even grow the patient a new heart from scratch. The possibilities are endless when looking at stem cell research.
There are three levels of stem cells, totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent. Embryonic stem cells are totipotent and they can become anything. Multipotent stem cells grow specific cells and thats it. For example, a multipotent stem cell could make heart muscle cells, but it couldn’t make a abdominal muscle. There is a stem cell in the middle of these two extremes called pluripotent. Pluripotent can reproduce to make cells from a certain system of the body. For example, pluripotent cells can be coded to produce a wide variety of neural cells or muscular cells. An induced pluripotent stem cell is an adult stem cell chemically induced to think that they are a pluripotent stem cell. The adult stem cells think they are younger. The use of iPS is helping work around the ethical concerns of stem cell research because it allows scientists to take actual adult stem cells from an adult and make them feel younger. Then the scientists can use these IPS’s to do the things that once could only be acquired from the young.
Stem cells are often rapidly dividing. Cancer cells are also cells that divide rapidly. How are these cells different from stem cells? If a cancer patient receives chemotherapy that targets rapidly dividing cells, how does this affect stem cells and the overall health of this person?
Stem cells and cancer cells have two main similarities. Both are grow and reproduce rapidly and both are undifferentiated, meaning that they still do not have a specific function. A huge difference between the two cells is that stem cells are turning into a cell that the body doesn’t need and can be harmed by, while stem cells reproduce into cells that the body uses and needs. Cancer cells are mutated cells that are damaged without repair and are not destroyed. These cancer cells pile up and hurt the host which is very different than the stem cells job in the body. If a cancer patient receives chemo that is targeting rapidly dividing cells the cancer cells are not going to be the only cells destroyed. Stem cells will die just as fast as cancer cells. This could be very detrimental to a persons overall health because the stem cells will not be able to do their job properly. Because of these effects, many cancer patients need a bone marrow treatment to build more blood cell producing stem cells.
What are the potential medical benefits of stem cell research? Give a few specific examples.
Piggybacking off the last question about cancer. The more we learn about stem cells the better we will be able to replenish stem cells after a treatment like chemotherapy. If scientists can find a way to somehow form these cells that are the correctly linked to the patient, we would not need to have to find a correct donor. Also, if these replacement cells are coming from the patient, there will be no worries about whether the transplant will be a success. Another way that stem cell research could change the medical world would be through fixing, or replacing organs that are not working properly for a patient. For example, if a patient has a heart that is malfunctioning, scientists someday through cell research could either patch up the problem with the persons own cells, or even grow the patient a new heart from scratch. The possibilities are endless when looking at stem cell research.
Review Major Concepts
- Differentiation requires a set of genes to be expressed to produce a set of proteins that carry out a specialized function.
- All cells in an individual are genetically identical in the genes they possess (except for sex cells), but they differ in the genes that are turned on or off.
- Difference between embryonic (pleuripotent cells) and Adult stem cells (multipotent).
Pleuripotent cells are coded to make cells for a specific system of the body. Ex) A pleuripotent neural cell could create brain cells and spinal cells but not a bone cell. Multipotent cells are coded to produce one specific type of cell. Ex) a multipotent cell could create a red blood cell but not a white blood cell.
- Induced Pleuripotent stem cells
Multipotent stem cells that are chemically induced to think they are pleuripotent.
- Medical advances – present and future?
information from "All About Popular Issues" History of Stem Cell Research