Stem Cells and Cancer Stem Cells, Volume 5 - Therapeutic Applications in Disease and Injury

pIt is pointed out that a cancer stem cell is a type within a tumor that possesses the capacity of self-renewal and can give rise to the heterogeneous lineages of cancer cells, which comprise the tumor. It is emphasized that a unique feature of cancer stem cells is that, although conventional chemotherapy kills most cells in a tumor, cancer stem cells remain intact. Vast applications of the following specific stem cells in disease and tissue injury are discussed:� embryonic stem cells, human mesenchymal stem cells, cancer stem cells, arterial stem cells, neural stem cells, cardiac stem cells, dental stem cells, limbal stem cells, and hematopoietic stem cells.� Because human embryonic� stem cells possess the potential to produce unlimited quantities of any human cell type, considerable focus is placed on their therapeutic potential in this volume.� These cells are used in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, pharmacological and� toxicological studies, and fundamental studies of cell differentiation.
It is pointed out that the formation of embryoid bodies, which are three-dimensional aggregates of embryonic cells, is the initial step in the differentiation of these cells. Therapeutic implications of signalling pathways in cancer stem cells are pointed out.� Targeting self-renewal pathways in cancer stem cells are also included. Application of mesenchymal stem cells for treating ischemic brain injury is explained.� Neural stem cells proliferation into the surrounding area of the traumatic brain injury is explained./pp�/pp