Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells, found throughout the body after development, that multiply by cell division to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues. Also known as somatic stem cells (from Greek σωματικóς, meaning of the body), they can be found in juvenile, adult animals, and humans, unlike embryonic stem cells.
Scientific interest in adult stem cells is centered around two main characteristics. The first of which is their ability to divide or self-renew indefinitely, and the second their ability to generate all the cell types of the organ from which they originate, potentially regenerating the entire organ from a few cells. Unlike embryonic stem cells, the use of human adult stem cells in research and therapy is not considered to be controversial, as they are derived from adult tissue samples rather than human embryos designated for scientific research. The main functions of adult stem cells are to replace cells that are at risk of possibly dying as a result of disease or injury and to maintain a state of homeostasis within the cell. There are three main methods to determine if the adult stem cell is capable of becoming a specialized cell. The adult stem cell can be labeled in vivo and tracked, it can be isolated and then transplanted back into the organism, and it can be isolated in vivo and manipulated with growth hormones. They have mainly been studied in humans and model organisms such as mice and rats.
Structure
Defining properties
A stem cell possesses two properties: Self-renewal is the ability to go through numerous cycles of cell division while still maintaining its undifferentiated state. Stem cells can replicate several times and can result in the formation of two stem cells, one stem cell more differentiated than the other, or two differentiated cells. Multipotency or multidifferentiative potential is the ability to generate progeny of several distinct cell types, (for example glial cells and neurons) as opposed to unipotency, which is the term for cells that are restricted to producing a single cell type. However, some researchers do not consider multipotency to be essential and believe that unipotency self-renewing stem cells can exist. These properties can be illustrated with relative ease in vitro, using methods such as clonogenic assays, where the progeny of a single cell is characterized. However, it is known that in vitro cell culture conditions can alter the behavior of cells, proving that a particular subpopulation of cells possesses stem cell properties in vivo is challenging, and so considerable debate exists as to whether some proposed stem cell populations in the adult are indeed stem cells.
Properties
Cell division
To ensure self-renewal, stem cells undergo two types of cell division (see Stem cell division and differentiation diagram). Symmetric division gives rise to two identical daughter stem cells, whereas asymmetric division produces one stem cell and one progenitor cell with limited self-renewal potential. Progenitors can go through several rounds of cell division before finally differentiating into a mature cell. It is believed that the molecular distinction between symmetric and asymmetric divisions lies in the differential segregation of cell membrane proteins (such as receptors) and their associated proteins between the daughter cells.
Under normal conditions, tissue stem cells divide slowly and infrequently. They exhibit signs of quiescence or reversible growth arrest. The niche the stem cell is found in plays a large role in maintaining quiescence. Perturbed niches cause the stem cell to begin actively dividing again to replace lost or damaged cells until the niche is restored. In hematopoietic stem cells, the MAPK/ERK pathway and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway regulate this transition. The ability to regulate the cell cycle in response to external cues helps prevent stem cell exhaustion or the gradual loss of stem cells following an altered balance between dormant and active states. Infrequent cell divisions also help reduce the risk of acquiring DNA mutations that would be passed on to daughter cells.