On November 17, 2015, Dr. Hui Ye presented the idea of stem
cells to the Loyola University students in Neuroscience 300 Seminar. At Loyola,
Dr. Ye is a part of the biology department and is involved with research
regarding stem cells. According to National Institutes of Health, Stem Cells
are cells that are capable of giving rise to indefinitely more cells of the
same type, and from which other type of cell arises with a more specialized
function (Stem Cell Basics). Stem cell therapy is a source of treatment for
many illnesses such as SCI, which is why the study of stem cell therapy is very
important. During the Seminar, Dr. Ye
explained how control of stem cell migration and differentiation is vital for
efficient stem cell therapy. He explained how specific intensity direct current
(DC) electric field improves neural stem cell migration and enhances
differentiation towards bIII-tubulin + neurons. According to the results
obtained, the DC electric field of this specific intensity is capable of
promoting cell directional migration abnd orchestrating functional
differentiation, suggestively mediated by calcium influx during DC field
exposure. As shown in Dr.Ye’s research, learning about stem cell is very
important because stem cells play a major role as a source of treatment and
have a huge impact in the field of medicine.
Due to
their unique abilities stem cell research can potentially help treat a range of
medical problems. Research regarding stem cells could lead humanity closer to
better treatment and possibly cure a number of diseases such as Parkinson’s
disease, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, birth defects and many more. Stem
cells also have the ability to repair or replace damaged organs such as the
heart. But of all, stem cells have even given scientists the ability to build
living “mini hearts” in laboratories. An article by Charles Q. Choi entitled “Human
‘Mini Hearts’ Made in Lab (and They Beat)” explains how stem cells have allowed
scientist to create living “mini hearts” from human stem cells. According to
research, the “mini hearts” are structures that resemble tiny, primitive,
beating hearts that can help scientists test heart drugs for safety, and learn
more about how the heart develops in order to help prevent defects (Choi). According
to Dr. Bruce Conklin, a physician and stem cell biologist at the Gladstone
Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in San Francisco, “it might even be
possible to grow pieces of heart to serve as a patches during heart surgery” (Choi).
In the lab, the mini heart was made from “human pluripotent stem cell, which
are immature cells that have the ability to become an tissue in the
body”(Choi). The article explains how researches in the past used a variety of
chemicals linked with stem cell activity to reprogram mature cells into
becoming pluripotent stem cells. These types of cells would replace cells that
have been destroyed in people with diseases or injuries (Choi). In the past,
labs created sheets of beating heart muscles in the petri dishes and tubes of
heart cells that could act like tiny pumps, but this did not create beating
chambers similar to living animals. But with new research, scientists found
that when stem cells are tiny pits, they can develop into microscopic beating chambers.
To create
the “mine hearts”, the researchers etched pits 200 to 600 microns wide into the
bottom of a petri dish. Next, they grew colonies of human stem cells that were
genetically reprogrammed from adult skin tissue in the pits. During the growth,
the researchers concluded “when stem cells are grown in tiny pits, the
mechanical cues they received from confinement in such tight spaces helped them
organize into hollow chambers” (Choi). Compared to the cells along the edges,
the cells in the center developed into heart muscle cells that were actually
beating. And when these heartlike structures were exposed to thalidomide, a
drug known for causing heart defects and deformed limbs, the structures failed
to develop properly. Researcher concluded that “they were smaller, had
difficulties contracting, and had lower beat rates compared with heart tissue
that was not exposed to the drug” (Choi). The results suggest that these
structures could help screen drugs that are still in testing for dangerous side
affects.
Building
“mini hearts” was not only a success in Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular
Disease in San Francisco, but also a new opportunity and advancement in the
medical field. Continuous research on stem cells will eventually lead to new
inventions and allows us to do organ transplant in the future. Although research
on stem cells has already led to many discoveries and many illnesses are already
being cured, stem cells has definitely opened up endless possibilities that
will change the history of the medical world.
References:
Choi, Charles Q. "Human 'Mini Hearts' Made in Lab (and They
Beat)." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 14 July 2015. Web. 08 Dec.
2015.
"Stem Cell Basics." : Introduction [Stem Cell
Information]. National Institution of Health, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, 25 Mar. 2015. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.
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