Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2010 Oct;42(10):1576-9. doi: 10.1016/j.biocel.2010.06.012. Epub 2010 Jun 18.
The view of the spleen as an unnecessary organ has been shattered. The evidence shows the spleen to be a source of naturally-occurring multipotent stem cells with possibly pluripotent potential. The stem cells are sequestered in the spleen of not only of animals but also of normal human adults. The reservoir of cells is set for differentiation and they need not be manipulated in vitro or ex vivo before autologous or heterologous use. Splenic stem cells, of Hox11 lineage, have been found in disease or injury to differentiate into pancreatic islets, salivary epithelial cells and osteoblast-like cells, cranial neurons, cochlea, lymphocytes, and more differentiated immune cells that repair injured heart cells. Injury or disease in target tissues induces these stem cells, still in the spleen, to upregulate the same embryonic transcription factors artificially introduced into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). Splenic stem cells may have broad pluripotent potential, but unlike iPS cells, possess low oncogenic risk.
脾脏作为一个不必要的器官的观点已经被打破。有证据表明，脾脏是天然存在的多能干细胞的来源，这些干细胞可能具有多能性。干细胞不仅存在于动物的脾脏中，也存在于正常成年人的脾脏中。细胞库已经为分化做好了准备，在进行自体或异体使用之前，无需在体外或离体进行操作。已经发现，Hox11 谱系的脾干细胞在疾病或损伤中可以分化为胰岛、唾液腺上皮细胞和成骨样细胞、颅神经元、耳蜗、淋巴细胞以及更多分化的免疫细胞，这些免疫细胞可以修复受损的心肌细胞。靶组织的损伤或疾病诱导仍在脾脏中的这些干细胞上调与人工引入诱导多能干细胞（iPS）中的相同胚胎转录因子。脾干细胞可能具有广泛的多能性，但与 iPS 细胞不同，它们具有较低的致癌风险。
