Adult Stem Cells
Stem cells are progenitor cells that have the potential to grow into other types of cells. They are found in several tissues, but the cells found in the
By changing the composition of their growth medium, the MSCs can differentiate into mesodermal tissues such as the osteocytes (bone cells) adipocytes (fat cells) and the chondrocytes (cartilage). This feature of the MSCs have made them favorites for tissue engineering.
The differentiated cells derived from a person, can be grown into the required cells and be put back into the same person, if an organ becomes impaired or non- functional.
Adult cells are fully -differentiated cells and hence their potential to act as stem cells is restricted. MSCs divide for a fixed number of times and this makes their number limited. Besides, they also tend to accumulate mutation with the passage of time. Other factors that limit their use would be poor availability, growth and differentiation.
