Boote Jones Erin N, Mallapragada Surya K
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, 2114 Sweeney Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
J Biomater Sci Polym Ed. 2007;18(8):999-1015. doi: 10.1163/156856207781494449.
Stem and progenitor cells are helping researchers understand the complex process of mammalian development and also show great promise in treating diseases that are unresponsive to standard therapies. The potential for embryonic stem cells to differentiate into any cell in the body is their great benefit but avoiding co-culture with animal cells and efficiently narrowing cell fate to a single cell type remains challenging. Adult progenitor cells have a more restricted cell fate, but have the potential for use in autologous cell therapies and avoid the ethical issues surrounding the derivation of embryonic stem cell lines. While progress is encouraging, there is much work to be done in directing cells to specific lineages before stem and progenitor cells can be commonly used in clinical settings. This review discusses current techniques used for investigation of the growth and differentiation of stem and progenitor cells, with a focus on neural cell fates.
干细胞和祖细胞有助于研究人员理解哺乳动物发育的复杂过程，并且在治疗对标准疗法无反应的疾病方面也显示出巨大潜力。胚胎干细胞分化为体内任何细胞的潜力是其巨大优势，但避免与动物细胞共培养以及有效地将细胞命运限定为单一细胞类型仍然具有挑战性。成体祖细胞的细胞命运更为受限，但具有用于自体细胞疗法的潜力，并且避免了围绕胚胎干细胞系衍生的伦理问题。尽管进展令人鼓舞，但在将细胞定向到特定谱系方面仍有许多工作要做，之后干细胞和祖细胞才能普遍用于临床环境。本综述讨论了用于研究干细胞和祖细胞生长与分化的当前技术，重点是神经细胞命运。
