Adult Stem Cells Can Also Self-Renew

In a ground-breaking study, scientists have discovered that adult, or post-natal, stem cells have the same ability as embryonic stem cells to multiply, which was not previously known.

Embryonic stem cells are often favored over adult or post-natal stem cells because it was generally believed that embryonic stem cells had a greater capacity to multiply than post-natal stem cells, making them more desirable to research as a potential treatment.

"Scientists have typically believed that adult or post-natal stem cells grow old and die much sooner than embryonic stem cells, but this study demonstrates that is not the case,” said senior author Dr. Johnny Huard, Ph.D., director of the Growth and Development Laboratory at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (PA, USA).

Researchers in Dr. Huard's laboratory were able to expand post-natal stem cells to a population level comparable to that reached by researchers using embryonic stem cells. Prior research showed that embryonic stem cells could undergo more than 200 population doublings before the cells begin to die. The researchers discovered that a unique population of muscle-derived stem cells was able to undergo more than 200 population doublings as well while keeping the ability to regenerate muscle in an animal model, a finding indicating that they could maintain their treatment potential. The study findings were reported in the July 1, 2005, issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell.

In addition to avoiding the current debate about the research use of embryonic stem cells, the use of post-natal cells could offer another important advantage: autoimmunity. With post-natal stem cells taken from the recipient and then reintroduced in an autologous manner, rejection would not be an issue.





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Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh